


Will it Hurt?

by Nocturnal_Hermit



Category: Miyavi (Musician), the GazettE
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Comfort? What Comfort?, Dark Humor, Fluff, Jealousy, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Slice of Life, Tattoo Artist Ruki, Unhappy Ending, bartender kai, side aoiha, tattoo artist miyavi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-06-09 01:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15256599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nocturnal_Hermit/pseuds/Nocturnal_Hermit
Summary: Inking people has become natural for Ruki. Everyone who comes into his shop either already has a tattoo or leaves with one. An acquaintance by the name of Kai is the first to break this cycle, and that catches the workaholic tattoo artist's attention.





	1. Chapter 1

“Will it hurt?”

“It might sting a bit. Considering this is your first one.”

Ruki turned to face a young girl sitting in a chair similar to one found in a dentist's office.Faint rock music filled the air from the speakers hung in each corner. The lighting was much brighter than she expected. The lights made the whole studio visible. On the girls right were all the tattoo artist’s tools and a black door. The red walls were decorated with framed pictures of client's tattoos and tattoo designs she assumed were done by the artist himself, Ruki. The girl looked over to her left and could see what passed for a waiting area. There were five chairs sitting along the wall with a small end table covered by some magazines and newspapers. The view of the waiting room was then obstructed by a white cloth curtain that Ruki was pulling back.

“Since this is your first time, I’ll pull back the curtain for privacy. I don’t want you to feel awkward if someone walks thru the door.”

The girl was glad that she chose Ruki to do her first tattoo. He talked to her in a caring and professional manner that eased her nerves. “Thank you. Will this take long?”

“I don’t think it should. You picked a pretty simple design.” Ruki put his black hair up into a ponytail and rolled up his sleeves revealing his tattooed arms. He walked over to where his equipment was. He put on gloves and covered the lower half of his face with a mask. 

The girls tattoo design was a simple one. It was a pink heart with a Celtic cross inside it and a date along the bottom that read  _ June 28, 2018 _ . It must have some significant meaning to her Ruki thought. Most people’s first tattoo held some deep context. Ruki took some soap and water and moistened the girls forearm before applying the stencil of the tattoo design.

While the stencil sat Ruki started to prepare his equipment. Once he was completed with that, he removed the stencil from the girl’s arm and applied some ointment to help keep the transferred design to stay a little longer and make the needle slide along the skin better. It was now time for the tattoo to be inked.

“Just relax. The first minute or so might hurt until your skin gets used to it.” Ruki pulled his mask down to flash the young girl a small comforting smile. She smiled back before letting out a little surprised gasp at the needle's first poke. It did take a few minutes until the girl got used to the sensation of the needle applying ink under a layer of her skin.

The buzzing noise of the needle filled the small the studio blocking the rock music heard earlier. The constant noise soothed the young girl. She looked around the studio to try to take her mind off the needle in her arm. Her eyes fell on Ruki. She noticed how, with his hair back, he showed off his ears and eyes. His eyes were highlighted by black smokey eyeshadow that went up to his eyebrows and a little onto the side of his face. The ear facing the girl had a gauged lobe and four piercings up the side. 

“Not so bad, right?” Ruki wanted to make every person who walked thru the door of his studio feel safe and relaxed. 

“Yea. It took a bit though,” the girl chuckled.

Once Ruki finished the line art, he let out a sigh. The hard part was over, now it was time for shading. As he was preparing the final touches, a tiny bell signified that somebody walked into his studio. “Just give me a sec, I’ll be right back.” Ruki said to the young girl, who nodded as a reply.

Ruki stepped out from behind the curtain to be greeted by a familiar face. The man had long hair tied up into a ponytail with some of it spilling onto his shoulders and a few strands in front of his face. He had a pronounced jawline which sat below a pair of lips curved into a mischievous smile. The corner of the lip was highlighted by a lip ring. The familiar figure donned a pair of black jeans and a white band tee with a black cardigan covering his arms. Behind the man stood a person who Ruki never seen before.

“What do you want, Aoi? I’m in the middle of something.” Ruki pulled down his mask to reveal a pair of pouty lips. Annoyance visible on his face.

“Just wanted to say hi.” The smile on Aoi’s face shrunk a bit when he saw that Ruki was not impressed with that answer.  

“And show my pal here where I got my sweet goddess tattoo.” Aoi moved a little to the side to show of his friend. He was a little younger than Aoi but around the same age of Ruki. A serious look painted his face as he looked around and studied the studio. His blonde hair was down to his shoulder with a bit a black roots showing at the top. From what Ruki could tell, he wore little makeup except for the small amount of black eyeshadow above his eyes. 

“Ru, this is Kai.” At the mention of his name the man’s serious expression instantly dissolved and was replaced by a big bright dimpled smile. 

“Hey, nice to meet you.” Kai nodded.

“Same.” Ruki replied back to the smiling man.

“Are you free when your done? I figured we could hang or something. Get you out of this tiny place.” Aoi smirked.

“It’s not tiny!” Annoyance remaining on Ruki’s face.

“Eh, matches the owner I suppose.” Aoi’s playful banter was cut short by a light punch from Ruki. “Anyways, just send me a text when your done. You really should come out sometime and have some fun.” Aoi rubbed his arm where he was hit and flashed sad eyes towards Ruki. “Unless you don’t like me anymore, Ru.”

“Shut up!” Ruki sighed. His pouty lips turned into a small smile and he let a chuckle out at Aoi’s antics. “I’ll text ya when I’m done, I don’t have too much left, okay?”

“Yay! Let’s go Kai.” 

Aoi and Kai left the studio leaving Ruki to get back to work. Ruki stepped behind the curtain again to where the young girl sat patiently. She was admiring her not-yet-finished tattoo. Her eyes shifted up towards Ruki putting his mask back on his face.

“You know, I’m really glad I did this. My grandma died in June and now I’ll have this beautiful heart and cross to always remind me of her sweet smile. Sometimes, things that hurt are worth it in the end.” 

Ruki sincerely smiled under his mask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first fic! Hope you all enjoy :)


	2. Chapter 2

Looking at his cellphone, Ruki saw that it was twenty after nine. He just finished up with his last client, which took him longer than expected. His last client wanted a full back tattoo. He locked the front door and turned off the lights. Passing by his equipment, Ruki exited his studio through a black door. The door led to a tiny room with one single light hanging from the ceiling. There was a set of steps to Ruki’s left and another black door facing him. The door led out to a back alley behind the tattoo parlor. The steps head up to Ruki’s small apartment. Ruki took his keys and locked the black door behind him. He went up to his apartment and was greeted by a tiny chihuahua bouncing around happily.

“Hey Koron! Sorry I’m late, boy.” Ruki said while letting his hair down. He kicked off his shoes by the door and grabbed a can of food from the tiny kitchen for his little guy. At the sight of the can, Koron ran to sit at his food dish. Ruki chuckled and poured the wet food into the dog’s dish. With the dog greedily chomping away at the his dinner, Ruki flopped onto the couch. He loved his job, but it can get exhausting. 

He took a breather and then grabbed his cellphone. He was unsure whether he had the energy to go out. Usually, after a day of inking people he would just feed Koron and watch some mindless tv until he fell asleep with his dog curled up next to him. It wasn’t exciting, but it was a comfortable routine.

Ruki replayed Aoi’s visit in his head. His mind shifted towards the blonde companion named Kai. He wondered what kind of person he was. He recalled the serious expression he wore and how quickly it vanished when he greeted the tattoo artist. Ruki never saw someone who had such a genuine smile.

He must’ve gotten along with Aoi, or at least could tolerate him. Then again, Aoi was always the social butterfly. After all, he introduced Ruki to some of his dearest friends; a couple of guys who ran a piercing shop about ten minutes away, Uruha and Reita. Uruha was laid back and a bit spacey at times. He always had a small smile on his face. It was hard to tell whether he was paying attention during their conversations or just off in some far away land in his head. Reita was at least a bit more grounded. He always managed to put a smile on everyone’s face by doing stupid facial expressions. Both of them were goofballs in their own way. The fact that the two of them could successfully run a piercing shop still surprises Ruki. 

Ruki figured he should get out. The last time was three months ago, and that was just to do some grocery shopping with Uruha. He only went because Reita wanted to make sure Uruha picked up more than just alcohol. 

_ You still want me to hang out? _

Ruki just closed his eyes before his phone dinged to signify a reply.  The screen lit up with a reply from Aoi.

_ Yeeeeeeesssss!!!! We are over at Uru’s and Rei’s! Come, please! Save me! _

Ruki laughed at Aoi’s foolishness. Might as well head out for a few hours. After saying goodbye to Koron, Ruki tied his hair back, touched up his makeup and headed out the door.

Ruki stepped out into the the still summer air. The sun hadn’t completely set so there was a faint orange glow of light in the sky. Fireflies bounced around playfully. And the surrounding area was void of sound except for the sound of far away traffic. 

Ruki started his ten minute walk to his friends’ place leaving his brick studio behind. Just like him, they had a small apartment above their shop. Ruki met them when he went with Aoi to get his lip pierced. Ruki sat and watched as Aoi chatted freely with Uruha. It’s was funny to see them try to shut Aoi up long enough to do the piercing. Reita was the first of the two to talk to Ruki, and they became instant friends. Soon after, Reita and Uruha were inviting Aoi and Ruki out for drinks.

After a few minutes, Ruki was greeted by a building with light tan siding. A sign above the doorway read “13 Piercings -1”. Ruki always thought it was a dumb name for business, but that just matched the two owners. The white door had a closed sign on it and the window to the right had blinds drawn shut. The window was decorated with decals of rings and stars, and the shop’s hours. Ruki walked around to the back of the shop. Just like his studio, it had a back entrance which lead up to the apartment. Heading up the stairs, Ruki could hear laughter. He heard Aoi’s, Reita’s, Uruha’s, and a fourth person he wasn’t familiar with. Was Kai still hanging around? 

The laughter quieted a bit from Ruki’s knock. “Who is it?” Aoi’s playful voice called out.

“I’ve come to murder you all.” Ruki joked back.

“Go ahead! I got life insurance,” this voice belonged to Reita, “Although it isn’t much, sorry.”

The door was opened by Uruha, a tall spacey blonde man. He smiled wide as Ruki stepped into the apartment. Reita was sitting in a recliner, Aoi was sitting on the couch. From the amount of empty cups and bottles around him, it was safe to assume he was sharing the couch with Uruha. In the center was a coffee table. A familiar stranger was sitting on the floor by the end of the table. The blonde man from his studio, Kai. He had a bright smile as he looked over at Ruki. He looked cute when he smiled Ruki thought. Wait, why did he think that? He felt a bit warmer, and turned his attention towards Reita to try and ignore his earlier thought.

“I can wait if you want to call and get a bigger policy.” Ruki smiled at Reita.

“No time. Let’s just get this over with. Did you just want to slit my throat? Leave my face alone. That way I can still look pretty for the funeral.” Reita lifted his head to reveal his neck to Ruki.

“Sorry, the bloodlust is gone. Maybe next time.” Ruki quipped.

“Damn. I thought I could get a new roommate.” a quiet voice left Uruha as he made his way back to his spot by Aoi.

“Then I could take your spot, Rei” Aoi slurred.

“Dear Lord. You’re already drunk.” Ruki looked at his inebriated friend.

“Just a little buzzy, bud. I’m a buzzy bumble bee.” Aoi giggled.

“Yeah, you’re drunk.” Reita took Aoi’s beverage away from him while Aoi just continued to giggle and lean on Uruha. Uruha didn’t pay him any mind and just continued enjoying his drinks. “Wait a minute! Did you say you wanted to get rid of me, Uru?” Reita turned his attention back to his friend.

Uruha just smiled softly, “I don’t remember, perhaps I am too drunk as well.”

“Bull! I heard you!” Reita threw a small decorative pillow at his roommate, missing and hitting the darked haired, intoxicated man who’s giggling was replaced with a sly smile. Aoi then took an ice cube out his cup and flung it back at Reita.

As this was going on Kai leaned into Ruki, “They’re fun drunks.”

“Yeah, free entertainment. We just sit back and watch.” Ruki turned towards the smiling blonde next to him. “By the way, how’d you meet Aoi?”

“Oh, I’m a bartender and he would visit quiet regularly. Didn’t take long until we started talking. I then met Uru and Rei. They would stop in the bar with Aoi sometimes. And finally, you today.” Ruki could’ve sworn the ending of his statement held a hint of softness to it.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Sorry if I seemed rude earlier. I just don’t like being bothered when I’m with a client.” 

“You’re fine. Aoi was telling me about you and just insisted that I meet you in person.” Kai’s big smiled eased into a smaller grin still with a dimple visible.

“I’m scared of what Aoi might’ve told you.” Ruki looked over towards the dark haired man who was currently in a headlock by Reita with Uruha just blankly staring at them with a smile on his face. 

“I can tell you it was nothing bad or personal. He just showed me his tattoo and started talking about you. He said that you were very good at what you do. And next thing I knew he was dragging me to your studio.”

“I’m sorry he did that.”

“I’m not.” Ruki was taken back a bit by Kai’s quick response. “It was my first time seeing a tattoo studio and I thought it was really cool. I mean, I could tell it was dear to you. Aoi told me you were a bit of workaholic. But if you enjoy it, it’s not really work.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Ruki awkwardly scratched the back of his head and could feel his cheeks redden a little. He was unsure of how to respond.

Kai sensing Ruki’s awkwardness instantly apologized. “Aw geez! I’m sorry! I sometimes babble. I just love seeing people passionate about something and you just seem like someone who is passionate about your work. I didn’t mean to ramble and make things awkward.”  He sheepishly laughed.

Ruki could tell that Kai was sincere. He appreciated that he wanted to learn about him and that he didn’t view his workaholic tendencies negatively unlike everyone else. Kai looked over at Ruki with his dimpled smile that casted sunshine. Ruki felt his chest grow a little tighter every time he noticed it. Kai was interesting.

“Let’s just start over, ‘Hi! I’m Ruki!’”

“Nice to meet you Ruki, my name is Kai!”

They both laughed as they shook hands. The other three companions quieted down a bit. Aoi sat rubbing his neck from the earlier headlock. He seemed to have sobered up a tiny bit “Why didn’t you help me, boo?” He slurred towards Uruha.

“I didn’t realize you two were fighting.” Uruha stated calmly looking between Reita and Ruki.

“Ah hell! At least you two got to enjoy the show.” Reita said looking over at the two on the floor.

“Just don’t charge emission and I’ll keep showing up.” Ruki quipped.

“Oh, by the way Ru, I’m thinking of getting another tattoo! This time on my left arm.” Aoi said as he pointed towards his left shoulder. “I’m gonna come to you instead of Miyavi because I like you!”

“Aw geez, thanks, bumble bee.” 

“You’re welcomed! And Kai if you ever get a tattoo you can just go to Ruki! Miyavi’s cool and all, but Ruki’s an artist!”

“I’m honored, but I don’t think I ever wanna get a tattoo. Just not my style.” Kai took a sip from his drink.

Ruki felt his cheeks get warmer. He was unsure whether it was the unwanted praise he was receiving from a drunken Aoi or if it was the thought of Kai not having any tattoos. He thought of Kai’s pale blank skin never being tainted by ink. The thought bounced around Ruki’s skull. He never met anyone like him. Every person he encountered was either inked or coming into his studio to get inked. 

Ruki was brought back to reality by Aoi running to the bathroom while Reita and Uruha laughed loudly.

“You are such a lightweight!” Uruha chuckled.

A few minutes passed and a disheveled looking Aoi came back. Despite his messy looked, he seemed like he was better and less drunk. “Shut up!” he plopped back down to his spot next to Uruha.

“It’s time for me to be a party pooper and head home. I had fun guys. I promise I will slit your throat next time Rei.” Ruki smiled and pointed a finger gun towards Reita.

“I’ll be sure to take out a bigger policy till then.”  Reita returned a finger gun back at Ruki.

“It was nice to see you guys and meet you Kai.”

“Likewise!” Kai smiled back.

The tight feeling in Ruki’s chest returned as that smile beamed up at him. Ruki just nodded his head and headed out the door. Once out in the still summer air, Ruki let out a sigh.

“Fuck.” why did his mind focus on that blonde’s smile. Thoughts of that man and his smile danced in Ruki’s mind as he walk back to his apartment.The man was charming, he’d admit that. He said he loved passionate people and then said Ruki was a passionate person. Did that mean Kai loved him? No, of course not. Why did it matter anyways? If tattoos aren’t his style, why would he be interested in Ruki? Wait, he just met him, why was he thinking of him like this? Calm down. The only thing that matters is what Aoi said to Kai. It better not have been anything embarrassing. Afterall, Aoi and Ruki have known each other since their first job. Aoi is sure to have some embarrassing stories about Ruki. 

Ruki’s thoughts quieted down as his studio’s sign came into view. A black board with red letters spelling “Abyss” greeted Ruki as he passed into the back alley. He made his way into the building and up the stairs to his apartment. Koron was sleeping curled up on the couch. The sight made Ruki smile.

_ Ding _

Ruki’s cell phone alerted him to a new notification. He swiped the lockscreen and saw that it was a message from a unfamiliar number. 

_ Hey! It’s Kai. I hope it’s okay that I got your number from Aoi, I forgot to ask you for it before you left. Anyways, I wanted to see if you wanted to go out for drinks sometime when you aren’t busy? _

Ruki felt his chest hurt a tiny bit again.

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah! Drunken fun! Can you tell I like dark humor? lol Well, hope you enjoyed this one! I hope I can get chapter three up soon!
> 
>  
> 
> Just wanted to thank Toguro for helping me with editing and stuff! Check her stuff out! Love ya! <3


	3. Chapter 3

The rain and thunder outside lifted Ruki out of a peaceful sleep. He looked at his clock telling him it was a quarter after six in the morning. He slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out his eyes. Koron laid at the bottom of the bed in a deep slumber, kicking his little feet slightly. Ruki looked at his phone and his heart sank when he open his messages. A message from the newly met Kai was still up waiting for a reply. 

He remembers receiving it late last night after their outing. After reading the text, Ruki was unsure how to respond. With work and the craziness of everybody at Reita and Uruha’s, Ruki was too tired and not in his right mind to reply. The best thing to do was to sleep on it and reply while fully conscious. At least, he thought that was a good idea. Now that it’s morning, he still had no idea how to reply. Kai was a really nice guy and Ruki did enjoy his company, but he had his friends there to help break the ice. Ruki couldn’t reply with a simple and short “Yea, sure”! He would seem rude. Not after Kai was so polite. Even his text oozes thoughtfulness. 

A sigh escaped Ruki’s lips as he got up from his bed slowly, trying not to wake the sleeping chihuahua. He walked over to his tiny kitchen and put some coffee on. Wasn’t it to early to text Kai back anyways? Ruki left before everybody else, so Kai must’ve stayed later. Therefore he probably would be tired and still asleep and Ruki didn’t want to disturb the smiley blonde.

Another sigh left Ruki as he grabbed a cup of fresh coffee and stared out the window at the morning rain. The streets were void of any signs of life. The rain formed numerous puddles in the streets and on the sidewalk. Lightning lit up the clouds, crackling and rumbling. Koron sat up in the bed, accusedly looking at Ruki suspecting him of making the noises outside. The little dog stretched and walked along the bed up to the pillows claiming them as his own. Ruki chuckled at his adorableness. 

With his mind calmed down, Ruki got dressed for the day ahead of him. He put his hair up and painted his face with dark makeup. He had a client scheduled to come in around eight for a full sleeve tattoo. He’s met with them to talk about the design and the way to go about giving the client their desired ink. With the rain, it didn’t look like Ruki would be busy.

Eight o’clock struck and his client was right on time. The client, a gentleman in his late forties with long brown hair, has gotten tattoos in the past, so he knew what to expect. While inking the brunette, Ruki had Kai’s text on the back burner in his mind. He couldn’t dwell on it while inking. Ruki was always serious about his work and directed all his attention to it, hence why Aoi calls him a workaholic. That never bothered Ruki though, he was always filled with pride when he finished a tattoo. Instead of his art being stuck on a wall, it was out in the streets where everyday people could see it and appreciate it. 

After two hours, Ruki and the gentleman took a break and called it a day for now. They got half of the outline completed. It was always better to break up the bigger complex tattoos into smaller sessions. The brunette was pleased with Ruki’s work and took his leave for the day. 

The thunder outside subsided and the rain slowed down. Once the client left, Ruki grabbed his phone. He felt his mind was the sharpest after inking and figured he should tell Kai whatever comes to his mind and stop fretting.

_ Hey! Sorry for the late reply. Sleep and work. But I think it’d be cool to meet up sometime. When were you thinking of meeting up? _

**SEND**

Putting the phone down, Ruki let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Why was he getting so worked up over a simple text? Hopefully the blonde didn’t think his lateness of a reply was rude. Kai seemed like a forgiving person though. 

Ruki grabbed an umbrella and step outside for a smoke break. Inside the studio was a no-smoking zone. Ruki didn’t want the smell to bother his clients. Leaning against his studio, Ruki lit a cigarette. Outside under the umbrella, the rain drowned out Ruki’s anxieties over his text with Kai. He hasn’t really meet anybody new in a long time. Clients were a different story. Ruki didn’t have to worry too much about socializing with them, small talk was sufficient enough. As long as they got their ink, they were happy. None of them ever cared to see or comment on his excitement towards the ink forming art on their bodies. Sure they appreciated Ruki’s talent, but none of them ever called him passionate. Kai did.

The burned-out cigarette butt was thrown into a nearby trash can. Ruki headed back inside and towards his phone laying on a counter. The screen alerted Ruki to one unread message. Kai replied almost instantly to Ruki’s text making him feel guilty for taking so long to reply originally.

_ Hey! It’s cool I know you’re a busy dude. Would you be up for later today? I work till five so you can stop by and we can meet up after my shift. _

Today?! That’s sooner than Ruki expected. But it is a good day. Afterall, rainy days were slow for him.

_ Sure! I can close up shop early and meet up. Just need the address. _

Kai then texted the bar’s address along with a “See ya later”.

Ruki felt a slight pain in his chest when he reread the texts. He was not really a bar person, always thought they were too loud. But he was willing to put up with it as long as Kai was there. Just like at Reita’s and Uruha’s apartment, Kai was able to steal Ruki’s attention in any noisy situation. It wasn’t until now that Ruki realized that. At the apartment Aoi and Reita made such a racket, but Kai talked to Ruki and the other’s seemed to disappear. It was a small moment but it stuck in Ruki’s mind.

Another client was scheduled to come in later. Ruki shook Kai out of his head and busied himself with setting up for the client. The client came around their scheduled time and received a leg tattoo of vines mixed with barbed wires and roses crawling along their leg from the ankle to above their knee. They were extremely happy and thanked Ruki numerous times. 

After they left, Ruki had a half hour to kill until it was time to meet up with Kai. He decided he would head out to the bar early, maybe try to get used to it. He’s only been to a few bars and was always accompanied by Aoi.

Ruki went up to his apartment to make sure Koron had enough food until tonight when he would be back home. The studio’s lights were turned off and the door was locked as Ruki made his way to the destination using the address Kai gave him. The rain had stopped, but the grey clouds still loomed overhead. 

After fifteen minutes, Ruki came to his destination. The bar was a brown one-story building with parking along the street. There were small circular windows decorating the siding and a bright yellow door. Above the door was a sign that read “Lucy’s”, whom Ruki assumed was the owner. The building was plain, but wasn’t the focus of Ruki’s attention.

Next to the little bar was a two-story light blue building. The first floor had two big glass windows with decals of various tribal designs along the edges. Inside the windows were framed pictures in front of a light purple curtain. The pictures showed designs and people smiling while showing off tattoos that they had. On the windows were the hours of operation and the establishment’s name, “Miyavi’s Tattoo Parlor”. 

Ruki turned his gaze and entered the bar. The inside of the bar looked more spacious than the outside let on. The walls were lined with booths that led back to a long counter with numerous bottles of alcohol displayed behind it. The space between the counter and the door was occupied by tables. Unlike Ruki’s studio, this place was pretty lively. There were groups of people scattered throughout, laughing and having a good time. Music was playing from the overhead speakers but was barely audible over the drunken merriment. The noise was the main reason Ruki stayed away from bars, it made it hard for him to think and concentrate. At the counter Ruki saw the man who invited him out. Kai was smiling and chatting happily with patrons while he mixed and poured drinks. The blonde was wearing a white button up shirt with a small black bowtie. The long sleeves were rolled up to reveal his toned arms. 

Out of the corner of his eyes Ruki saw a familiar figure frantically waving. He looked to see Aoi practically jumping out of his seat at a table towards the middle of the room. Next to a jumping Aoi, Uruha sat with a smile on his face. The two of them looked to be enjoying some drinks amongst themselves. Ruki made his way over to them past a few noisy groups.

“Holy shit! What are you doing here?” Aoi said with a giant smile on his face.

“I thought I’d give being a raging alcoholic a try. See how many people I can knock out before the cops take me away.” Ruki quipped.

“Well you’ve come to the right place! I’m pretty sure Kai can hook you up with some strong stuff!” Aoi waved his arm aggressively to get the blonde bartender’s attention. Kai looked over towards Aoi, Ruki thought Kai’s smile got slightly bigger when he locked eyes with the pretty bartender.  _ Pretty? _ Did that just pop in his head? He was good looking, he’d give the man that.

Kai excused himself from the few patrons he was talking to and made his way over to the table. Ruki’s face felt like it was getting warmer. Maybe it was the lighting in the bar, but Kai’s blonde hair seemed to shine. He radiated sunshine. Every person he smiled and chatted to seemed to light up in the same way. He left bits of light behind him as he headed towards Ruki.

“Hey guys! Ruki you’re early.”

Ruki felt a tinge of embarrassment at Kai’s statement. He didn’t want to seem too excited to be meeting up, but he was always in a habit of showing up early. He would’ve waited outside, but after seeing Miyavi’s place, that option was out. That place was best out of sight.

“Early?” Aoi tilted his head a little to the side, much like a quizzical dog.

“Oh! Didn’t I mention we were going to hang later?” Kai’s dimpled grin shrank to a serious look. His eyes were piercing in that state.

“What?! You managed to get the troll out of his cave?” A sly smile spread across Aoi’s face. His mouth opened to say something else but was quickly quieted by a quick kick to his shin under the table. “OW!”

Ruki and Kai both looked at Uruha with a devious smile plastered on his plush lips. “That’s very lovely. What time?” No doubt he was the one who silenced Aoi.

“As soon as I get done at five.” Kai said a little shyly. Did his cheeks look a little red to Ruki? Must be the lights again.

“Oh, so ten minutes from now. Well, we called you over to get Ruki a drink since he just showed up.” Uruha’s devious smile vanished into a sincere one.  

“Sure! What would you like?” The smile returning to his face and the red tint gone.

“Um, just a gin and tonic, please.” Ruki never liked complicated drinks.

“Sure, depending what the people over at the bar want, it might be a few minutes.” The bartender flashed Ruki and adorable smile. Ruki felt his heart skip.

“Th-That’s fine.” Ruki looked down at the table trying to hide his reddening face. Dear God, Aoi is going to tease him.

“Alright, I’ll be back.” Kai turned and headed back to his place behind the counter. It looked like some people wanted refills and orders of other drinks. Was he working by himself? Ruki didn’t see any other bartenders in attendance.

“So...”

Ruki’s gaze was lifted to the table and pierced into Aoi. The dark hair man ignored the penetrating stare and winked at Ruki.

“When did you two-”

“Oh poo!” Aoi’s sentence was interrupted by a calm Uruha. “I forgot to order a drink. Aoi would you mind going up there to get me a drink?” The man then rested his hand on Aoi’s lap. “Anything with whiskey, please.” He looked into Aoi’s eyes with a loving look. It looked like he was putting a spell on him.

“Sure, Uru.” Aoi lifted the man’s hand off his lap and kissed it. He made his way towards the bar to get the drink.

“Thanks. For kicking him and now.” Ruki chuckled and locked eyes with a sympathetic looking Uruha.

“No problem. I’m the only person who knows how to shut Aoi up. And don’t worry, I’ll stop him from embarrassing you any further.”

Ruki felt grateful for Uruha’s help. He never talked too much with the tall man, but he did feel closer to him at this moment. Ruki’s eyes left Uruha and settled on the bartender moving from patron to patron.

“He’s cute.”

“What!” Ruki snapped his head back towards Uruha, who looked from Kai back to Ruki.

“He’s cute. Not my type, but he seems nice. And I can tell you agree with me.” Uruha pointed a long finger towards Ruki’s cheeks flushed with red. Ruki instantly put his hand up to cover his face.

Uruha chuckled at the lovesick display. “I know he thinks the same of you too.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Why do you think he got your number?”

Ruki felt the redness of his cheeks heat up. Uruha and the red-faced tattoo artist sat for a minute in silence as Ruki tried to cool his checks down. His tomato face ceased just in time as Aoi came back with two drinks. One for Uruha and one for Ruki. Ruki took his drink and looked over towards the counter. Kai was gone and replace by a smaller man with glasses. 

“Kai will be out in a few minutes now that his replacements here. He just went to the back to change.” Aoi said as he draped an arm on the back of Uruha’s chair.

“That poor thing had to take care of all these people by himself? What a trooper.” Uruha wiped away a fake, non existent tear.

“And you’re one of them! Boy, I feel really bad for him.” Ruki said as he looked at Aoi.

“Hey! I’m not drunk! Not after last night!” Aoi protested loudly.

The group laughed joining the loud merriment of the bar. Behind them the door opened to let in a familiar dark haired figure. Ruki didn’t notice the man until he came up to greet his little group.

“Hey guys!” Ruki turned to see who Aoi and Uruha were smiling at. The man had black hair styled back with the sides of his head shaved. He was wearing a black v-neck t-shirt showing of his tattooed arms. His shirt hung low enough to reveal a little bit of ink on his chest.

“Miyavi! How’s it going?” Aoi’s faced widened with a smile and pulled an empty chair out located between him and Ruki. Miyavi took the seat.

“Good. A bit busy. How’s the piercing business Uru?” Miyavi turned his attention from Aoi to the spacey blonde.

“Alright. Reita and I have been steady.”

“That’s good! And how’s things with you, Ru?”

Ruki always felt a distaste towards Miyavi. It wasn’t his fault entirely. Ever since they both took an apprenticeship together five years ago, Ruki always felt inferior. The man was gorgeous and had the charisma to draw people in. Where Ruki was only getting, at most, three people a day; Miyavi averaged ten. Even back during their apprenticeship, Miyavi got more clients than Ruki.

“Good, I’ve been getting a lot of complex designs recently.” Ruki swallowed his contempt and answered Miyavi with small smile.

“Oh, I bet you love that. You were always good at those ones.” 

“Hey guys, sorry it took me a bit.” Kai strolled up to the table and recognized the new addition. “Hey Miyavi! Nice to see ya again.”

Kai pulled an empty chair up to the table and joined everyone in conversation. Everybody talked and joked with each other except for Ruki. He sat in silence, only joining in a few times. His attention was focused on Kai. Kai flashed everyone a friendly smile. Everytime that smile shone towards Ruki, he felt his heart skip. But anytime he directed it over towards Miyavi, Ruki couldn’t help but feel a slight pain of jealousy rising up. Miyavi didn’t deserve this hate, but Ruki couldn’t help it.

It hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter sooner than I thought! lol I just wanted thank everybody for all the kudos and extremely nice comments. They mean sooooo much to me! I'm ecstatic that people are enjoying my first little fic. I love you all <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 I'm hoping to get the next chapter done later this week or early next week. Stay tuned :D


	4. Chapter 4

“I didn’t know you guys knew each other?” Kai said making eye contact with everyone at the table. His smile widened as he meet Ruki’s dark brown eyes. There was something bothering Ruki. Some discomfort was showing through his eyes. Kai looked around to see everyone else being perfectly content. What was bothering Ruki?

“Well, I met Miyavi when I met Ruki.” Aoi drew Kai’s attention back to his original question. “I went to get a tattoo and they both were apprenticing at the parlor.”

“Oh, really?” Kai looked over towards Ruki and Miyavi. 

“Yeah, those were fun times! Huh, Ruki?” Miyavi had a grin on his face and nudged Ruki’s shoulder. The corner of the shorter man’s mouth slightly turned upwards in an attempt to form a reassuring grin. Both men had a different expression on their faces regarding the past. Miyavi had one of nostalgia while Ruki’s faced showed something different. Kai couldn’t help but notice. He looked around the table and saw that Aoi and Miyavi were completely oblivious to Ruki’s discomfort; Uruha had a blank expression on his face.

“Yeah,” Ruki looked up from the table to his fellow tattoo artist trying to hide the venom in his voice. “You always had people flocking towards you for tattoos. You could’ve started a cult with how popular you were.” Miyavi’s grin widened at Ruki’s backhanded compliment. Ruki looked at everyone to see if he fooled them. Beside him, Miyavi had a friendly expression. Aoi had a huge smile on his face, probably thanks to the influence of alcohol. Uruha sat beside him with no change in appearance. Ruki felt a bit of a panic when he looked at Kai’s face. His face was smiling, but his eyes showed concern, much like a mother shows towards a child. Could he tell?

“Yeah, but you always got to do cool designs. I mean you did Aoi’s tattoo and that thing is awesome.” Miyavi’s attention turned towards the dark hair man sitting next to him.

“Yeah! It totally is!” The voice that came out of Aoi was filled with pride for the art on his shoulder.

“He’s always showing it off.” Uruha finally spoke up with a soothing voice.

“He showed it to me within a few minutes of meeting him.” A chuckle escaped Kai’s lips.

They all laughed and poked fun at Aoi for being such a show off.

Grabbing a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, Ruki stood up. “I’m just going out for a smoke real quick.” 

“I’ll join you.” Ruki looked to see Uruha gettin up as well.

“Make good choices kiddos!” Aoi shouted as they headed out the door into the evening. 

The night was creeping in. The slowly setting sun was lighting up the grey clouds that tried to hide it all day. In the faraway distance light thunder could still be heard. A cool breeze ran through Uruha and Ruki as they stepped to the side of the building. They each grabbed a cigarette out of Ruki’s pack and shared Uruha’s lighter.

Ruki took a long drag of his cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke into air. Uruha doing the same. They stood in silence for a few minutes until Uruha broke the silence.

“He was getting to you.” It was more of a statement than a question. “You did a good job hiding your fangs though.” The blonde put his cigarette up to his full lips. There was no emotion behind his words. Ruki didn’t know whether Uruha saw his jealousy of the other tattoo artist as reasonable or foolish.

Ruki just sighed releasing another puff of smoke intertwining with Uruha’s. They both looked up at the approaching night sky. Grey clouds were slowly disappearing to make room for a few early stars. Ruki never had to talk much around Uruha. The tall blonde always seemed to know what everyone was thinking or feeling. He was able to read a room like a book. 

“Where’s Reita?” Ruki took his eyes from a bright star and focused on the spacey man beside him.

“He had a few more customers to attend to. He told me to head on out. So I did. He was going to stay in for the night. His head hurt from last night.”

Ruki replied with a hum and a nod of his head. Both of the men turned their heads to the door opening beside them. They were greeted by a smiling blonde man.

“I need to get out of there. Patreons are still asking me for drinks even though I’m off the clock.” Kai joked with the two smokers.

“You want one?” Ruki lifted his pack of cigarettes up for Kai, but he just smiled and shook his head.

“Sorry, I don’t smoke anymore.”

Uruha threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped on it. “Gonna head back in,” he said and flashed a smile towards Ruki, leaving the two men by themselves.

Ruki’s cheeks started to heat up. HIs mind went blank at the sight of the attractive blonde man beside him. He could not think of anything to say or even initiate a conversation. The charming man leaned against the wall of the bar beside Ruki. When Kai flashed his captivating smile towards the smaller tattooed man, his worries flew out the window. Kai instantly became easier to talk to when he had a dimpled, cheery expression.

“Anymore?” Ruki took a puff of his shrinking cigarette and turned his head to blow the smoke away from Kai.

“I used to a few years ago. Used to have my ears pierced too.” Kai chuckled. “I was a lot edgier back then too.”

“Somehow, I’m having trouble picturing that.” Ruki looked over and met Kai’s eyes. Ruki felt his chest tighten at the sight of the sunny blonde letting out a radiant laugh.

“Yeah, turns out my mom was right. It was just a phase.” Kai snorted. “But you pull off the look better than I ever could.”

Ruki was taking a drag off his cigarette when Kai mention the last part, taking him by surprise. Instead of exhauling the smoke, Ruki choked on it. He was hunched over coughing violently. Kai stood up from the wall and was by Ruki’s side with a worried expression.

“I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

Ruki coughed out the remaining smoke in his lungs and held a thumbs up towards Kai.

“I’m fine. Just took me by surprise is all.” Ruki choked out one last cough.

“What?”

Ruki threw his cigarette butt on the sidewalk and stepped on it to make sure it was out. He kept his eyes on the ground while he spoke. “I’m not used to people complimenting my looks. Especially people like you.”

“People like me?” An airy laugh passed thru Kai’s smiling lips.

“You know, attractive, cheerful, sunny and pleasant.” Ruki froze realizing what just came out of his mouth.  _ Attractive _ . Did he really just say that? And that was the first thing he said, too?! He shouldn’t have let his guard down because his filter goes down as well. He felt embarrassment wash over him in a sea of warmth and pain. Ruki swallowed and braved a look up towards Kai. He was shocked to be greeted by a blushing Kai looking down at his own feet. The dimpled grin remained on his face though. The blonde took in a deep breath and exhaled it to work up the courage to look at the tattoo artist’s face.

“Listen, I really think you are a fascinating and charming person. And I would love to get to know you better.”

Ruki felt jittery, anxious, and calm at the same time.  _ Love? _

“Yeah, I would love that too.” Ruki’s heart raced furiously in his chest.

“You up for doing something else? Like a movie or something? I just really don’t wanna be here if I’m not working. I get enough of it while I’m on the clock.” Kai laughed.

“I’m up for a movie. You have anything in mind?”

“Nope. Whatever you want.”

“How about the remake of that old horror movie?” Ruki’s eyes lit up like a child. Seeing that side of Ruki made Kai joyously laugh.

“As long as I can comment.”

“Of course. How else do you watch movies?” 

“Let me just go tell the guys.” Kai headed towards the bar’s entrance.

“Oh, I got to go pay for my drink!” Ruki went to follow Kai.

“Don’t worry. That one was on the house.” The blonde bartender winked back at Ruki.

A smile spread across Ruki’s lips. He really did adore this man.

“Welcome back.” Uruha looked at the two men standing by the table. A satisfied smirk on his full lips. Aoi was leaning on him with his head on the man’s shoulder. Miyavi still sat beside Aoi. Ruki felt the earlier jealousy creep back in. He fought it back, however, and smiled at the fellow tattoo artist.

“We are going to head out. We have a lot of crimes we have to commit before sunrise. We’ll catch you guys later.” Ruki said with a sly smirk.

“Yeah, houses aren’t going to burglarize themselves.” Kai grinned and looked at Ruki.

“You two have fun.” Miyavi spoke with a friendly tone.

“Wait a minute. Where are you guys-” Aoi’s question was quickly silenced by a swift kick to his shin under the table. “Ow! Dammit!”

“Try not to get arrested, guys.” Uruha interrupted Aoi’s cries of pain.

The two men left the group at their table and headed out of the bar.

“You wanna take my car? If we drive it’s only a few minutes away then.” The blonde bartender asked as the door closed behind his black hair companion.

“Sure!” Ruki and Kai walked down the road to a grey sedan parked along the sidewalk. Kai unlocked the doors and hopped behind the wheel. Ruki settled into the passenger seat which sat a bit lower than the dashboard.

“Wow. I feel even shorter.” Ruki chuckled.

“You can raise the seat up. Here let me help.” Kai leaned over Ruki and reached for the lever between the seat and the door. His warm torso was practically laid across Ruki’s lap. The tattoo artist’s face instantly turned red as the bartender pushed down on the handle raising him up closer to the man’s chest. Kai quickly shot up when he realized he was practically on Ruki’s lap. The blonde’s face immediately heated up and his cheeks burned. 

Kai cleared his throat. “Let’s head.”

“Yeah,” was all Ruki could squeak out still in shock at the former display. Ruki swore he could’ve felt the other man’s heart race inside his chest when he realized how close they were. That thought alone put a small smile on the man’s dark lips.

A few minutes passed until they arrived at their destination. They exited the car not saying much, but the silence was not an awkward one. When they entered inside the movie theatre, they grabbed their tickets and Kai walked over towards the concessions stand.

“I’ll buy the popcorn ‘cos I’ll probably eat half of it before the movie even starts!” Kai winked over towards the small black hair man. “ You can go grab the seats.”

Ruki nodded and made his way to the room showing their selected movie. The inside of the theatre was not crowded. There were only a few people sitting towards the back and a few off to the side. Ruki picked a seat near the front of the theatre away from the other movie goers. As Ruki say down, Kai came in with a bucket of buttered popcorn already shoveling it into his mouth. He found Ruki and sat down next to him leaning the bucket over towards the tattoo artist. Ruki smiled towards Kai and took a small handful.

The two made it just in time for the previews. They both sat in content silence as the previews paved the way for the motion picture. As the movie played they leaned back and forth making fun of the movies production, flawed characters, and plot holes. Their comments ceased as they got drawn into the movie’s plot.

At a silent point in the movie, a blood covered character jumped out to scare and unexpected person. The scene was loud and unexpected making Kai jump in his chair and grab Ruki’s hand instinctively. Ruki’s attention turned from the movie to the warmth of the other man’s hand holding his. Kai calmed down to realize what he did. He was about to pull it away but Ruki tightened his grip. Kai looked over to be greeted by a smiling tattoo artist. They both looked back up to the movie screen keeping their hands together. During the scary parts of the movie, Kai kept squeezing the other’s hand.

The squeezes tightened around Ruki’s hand. They hurt every so often, but it was pleasant to just be holding hands. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4 is up and ready to go lol Finally gave the boys some alone time ;) Just wanted to thank everybody for the love and support I've received. You guys give me life and I love you all lol Anyways, I hope you guys will enjoy this. <3 <3 <3


	5. Chapter 5

The stars that shined brightly during the night, vanished as the morning sun poked over the horizon. The early sun rays made their way between the slots in the window blinds and landed on Ruki. Turning in his bed, the tattoo artist let out a tired moan. What time is it? He reached for his phone on the nightstand to check the time.

9:30

“Crap!” Ruki sprung out of bed in a rush to get ready for the day. He had a client coming in at ten! He put some coffee on and quickly got dressed. After watching the movie with Kai last night, Ruki fell into a peaceful sleep. But he’s never overslept before.

Grabbing his coffee, Ruki made his way down to his studio to set up. Ruki was relieved that his client was ten minutes late. It gave him enough time to get prepared for the inking. The client was a scrawny young man with black hair in his face. The young man was getting more designs added to his sleeve tattoo. Like always, Ruki got absorbed in his work. 

Once Ruki finished up with the young man, it was late in the afternoon. The scrawny boy was satisfied with his tattoo and left happy. Ruki cleaned up and grabbed his pack of cigarettes and went outside for a smoke break. The light from the bright afternoon sun nearly blinded Ruki as he stepped out into the summer heat. Lighting a cigarette and sitting on the sidewalk, Ruki reminisced about last night. A smile spread across the tattoo artist face as he thought about how soft Kai’s hands were. They held hands until the movie was over. After the movie, Kai drove Ruki back to his studio and they parted ways for the night. On the drive back, they both filled the silence with complaints about the movie. They laughed and joked making Ruki look forward to their next outing. Ruki’s thoughts were interrupted by his phone dinging. He looked at his phone to see he had an unread message from Aoi.

_ How was last night, Ru?? ;) _

Ruki sighed. He should’ve known after leaving everybody at the bar there would be questions. And of course Aoi’s mind always goes into the gutter.

_ Great! We committed three arsons, assaulted two elderly citizens, and finished the night with a sacrifice to a pagan god in the woods. Very bloody. _

Ruki couldn’t help but give Aoi a cynical and sarcastic reply. It was just too funny to him.

_ Hardy har-har. I know you had fun. I just hope he got you home by midnight before you turned into a pumpkin. _

_ I think you read Cinderella wrong. _

Ruki set his phone down beside him as he took a drag off his cigarette and exhaled the smoke. He watched as the a light breeze took the smoke and mixed it into the air. The dinging of Ruki’s phone brought his attention to the device laying beside him. He picked it up thinking of a snippy reply to his dorky friend. But was surprised when he saw that the message was from the dork’s better half, Uruha. 

_ Ignore Aoi. _

Ruki couldn’t help but chuckle at the short text. The two of them made a funny pair. Uruha was always good at keeping Aoi in check. Strangely enough, they made a great couple. Scrolling through his contacts, Ruki found the number he was looking for and sent a message.

_ Hey Kai! Had fun last night! Wanna do it again sometime? _

The tattoo artist sighed. He pushed away the anxiety of texting first. If Ruki wanted to make whatever he had with Kai work, he had to ignore some of his anxieties and just do it. Thinking about texting Kai didn’t feel him full of anxiety as it used to. Oddly, he was much calmer when Kai popped in his head. The high pitched ding from the phone made the black hair man smile.

_ I had fun too! I’m down to meet up whenever you are? Is later today good or is that too soon? _

A laugh came out of the tattoo artist. The excitement from Kai was infectious. Since they spent time together last night, it did seem a little too soon to meet again. But Ruki didn’t care. He couldn’t help but find Kai’s company enjoyable. 

_ I’m up for later today if you are. _

Ruki’s mind raced with what they could possible do. The tattoo artist took a drag of his cigarette to calm himself. He then figured the best thing to do was to just let everything play out naturally. They didn’t plan the movie night and that turned out to be some of the most fun Ruki has had in a long time.

_ Today sounds good? You wanna just grab a bite to eat and hang somewhere? After the day I’m having I could use some peace and quiet haha! _

_ That sounds great to me! Where do you wanna meet? _

_ How about you just meet me at the bar when I get off work? Then I could drive us. _

Returning to the bar? Hopefully Aoi isn’t there again. Ruki didn’t feel like he was ready for the playful teasing of his friend. Also, the tattoo artist was hoping he didn’t run into Miyavi again. With everyone else it was easier to put up a front and tolerate the fellow tattoo artist. But one on one, Ruki didn’t think he could keep his cool.

_ Sounds good! I’ll meet you around five. _

_ Nice. _

The dark hair man pocketed his phone and stomped out his cigarette butt. Excitement of tonight filled the tattoo artist. Ruki’s mind wandered to other thoughts. Is this a date? Was last night a date? Where THEY dating? Ruki tried to shake the thoughts out of his head by occupying himself. He went into his studio and sat at his desk with a sketchbook. Doodling new designs and ideas always stole Ruki’s full attention. 

Not having any more clients for the day, Ruki sat and drew elaborate designs until it was time for his outing. He locked up his studio and went up to his apartment to fix his makeup and check on Koron. The little chihuahua was quite content having the whole apartment to himself. Ruki changed into an oversized grey hoodie and black skinny jeans. After applying black eyeliner and lipstick, the tattoo artist closed up Abyss for the day and was out the door making his way towards Lucy’s.

Once Ruki got to Lucy’s, he peeked over at Miyavi’s studio to see a young strawberry blonde girl walking inside. At least Miyavi was busy, he didn’t have to worry about encountering him inside the bar. Ruki checked his phone for the time. He was a few minutes early. Opening the door, Ruki was greeted by drunken rambunctiousness. Most of the patrons were laughing and joking with each other at the central bar where Kai was. The smiling bartender had his blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail. While Kai was tending to the people at the bar, a smaller man with glasses walked from table to table tending to their needs. The tattoo artist sighed, glad that he did not see any familiar faces. Scanning the room, Ruki looked for a spot to sit and wait. He made his way to an empty booth off to the side and relaxed. Taking out his phone to check the time, he was startled by the small man with glasses.

“Can I get you anything, sir?”

Ruki nearly dropped his phone after the cheerful voice cut through his solitude. He looked up to be greeted by a childish looking young man with short blonde hair. He hid his dark eyes behind glasses.

“Oh, I’m fine! Thanks. Just waiting for Kai.” Ruki looked from the childish bartender to the one behind the counter mixing and pouring drinks. His smile staying on his face as he moved from one customer to another.

“You must be Ruki then!” The smaller bartender regained that tattoo artist’s attention.

“Y-yeah.” Surprise was clearly displayed on Ruki’s face. “Um….Have we met?”

“Sorry. No. I’ve just heard a bit about you from Kai. I’m Nao by the way.” The childish bartender let out a small laugh that was so innocent. 

“My reputation must precede me. Everybody apparently hears about me before they see me.” Ruki couldn’t help but let the snide comment roll of his tongue. Seeing that he made Nao uncomfortable he tried to lighten the mood. “Sorry. I hope what you heard is all good.”

“Don’t worry. It is. Nothing embarrassing about you either.”

“Thank God.” 

Nao left out a joyous laugh. “I can see why Kai likes you. I’ll go tell him your here. He’s about done anyways.”

With that, the young bartender turned to walk towards the bar Kai was stationed at. Ruki watched Kai’s grin widened as Nao spoke and pointed towards the tattoo artist. Did Nao say Kai liked him? Ruki felt his cheeks getting warm as Kai made eye contact with him. He managed a small wave before turning his gaze down towards the table in an attempt to hide his blushing. Ruki was studying the speckled design of the bar’s table when Kai walked up to him. Kai was out of his bartender get up and in his street clothes. He was wearing a comfy looking black zip up hoodie. His hair was down and parted so that half his face was almost covered by the blonde strands. The brown roots were starting to overcome the blonde in his hair.

“Hey! Ready to rule the night again?” Kai winked at Ruki.

When Ruki looked up at the winking Kai, he could’ve swore he could hear his own heartbeat. It was louder than the rest of the noisy bar. Ruki took in a deep breath and let it out to calm down.

“I’m ready. Let’s go turn some heads in this backwater town.” Ruki stood up from the booth and followed the off duty bartender out the door. 

The sun was still hanging in the horizon letting it’s presence be known. The light blinded both men who had to adjust their visions after being in the dimly lit bar. Ruki started to regret his outfit choice. Maybe a sunny summer day wasn’t the best time to wear a fashionable hoodie. He looked over to see the black clothed blonde bartender wipe a few droplets of sweat from his forehead.

“Well, we certainly are dressed for the season.” The smiling blonde chuckled.

“I’m just shocked you are able to stand in the sun. At least you disproved my theory of you being a vampire.” Ruki joked.

A laugh escaped Kai lighting up his dark appearance. “C’mon, let’s go to my car. I’ll turn on the AC.”

The two men made their way to the grey sedan. Kai searched between his pockets in an attempt to find his keys. Ruki held back a laugh and watched as the blonde man searched every single pocket. The smiling face turned to a serious one, which Ruki was not used to seeing.

“I’m guessing you might’ve forgot something.” Ruki poked at Kai’s side in an attempt to get him to smile again. Kai instantly jumped at the poke and looked at Ruki while letting out a nervous laugh.

“I must of left them in the bar. I’ll be right back.” The smiling man jogged back inside the bar. Ruki couldn’t help but wonder if he was nervous about something. He only knew Kai a little bit, but he rarely made a serious face.

Kai exited the bar after being in their for a minute. “Left them with my uniform.” His smile returning to his face. The tattoo artist thought the grinning face suited him better than the serious expression.

While Kai was unlocking his car, Ruki looked to see a familiar figure emerging from the building beside Lucy’s. Miyavi was leaving his studio with a few other people Ruki didn’t recognize. Ruki instantly felt his deep dislike rising up in him like a dark boiling liquid. As soon as the car was unlocked, Ruki immediately hopped into the passenger seat while Kai got into the drivers side. The grey sedan rolled into drive and was heading out on the road. 

Miyavi’s gaze went from his group towards the car’s occupants. His face displayed a smirk as he recognized the driver and passenger. The driver of the car lifted his hand from the wheel to do a wave, while the passenger stared out his window. Miyavi returned the wave feeling sadness creep up inside him at the disregard from his fellow tattoo artist.

“Who was that?” A young blonde girl asked looking at the car disappearing down the road.

“Just some friends.” The tattoo artist said as his group entered the neighboring bar.

While heading down the road, Kai turned the air conditioning up in an attempt to cool down the incredible heat in the car. “Where did you wanna eat?” 

The blonde turned to see the tattoo artist rolling up his sleeves revealing the mess of tattoos underneath. He never liked the ink marks, but on Ruki they just looked so good. Kai’s face got red when he meet eyes with Ruki who just caught him staring at his arms. Kai looked from Ruki’s dark eyes to the road in front of him. His sunny appearance changing to a serious one again.

He was nervous! Ruki could tell. He felt bad that he was the cause of the nervousness. But he couldn’t help but look at Kai as the blonde’s face softened while examining his arms. Sensing the mood, Ruki decided to give an amusing answer to lighten the air. 

“How ‘bout we go to the morgue? I hear this time of year the pickings are good.” Ruki laughed.

“I was thinking more along the lines of drive-thru.” The smile returning to the blonde’s face.

“That works! Legal, too! Probably best to start there. Cannibalism isn’t appropriate until the fourth date, I guess.” Ruki mentally slapped himself. Date?! Really? Ruki’s internal worries were quickly silenced by Kai’s laughter.

“Gotta work slow! Second date is drive-thru. Third date is Voodoo. Fourth is cannibalism. Fifth is virgin sacrifices. There is a hierarchy to theses things, Ru!”

So this was a date, then! Ruki felt butterflies assaulting each other in his stomach. His face grew red and warm as his blood boiled from the warmth he felt in his chest. Ruki couldn’t help but be overcome with emotion for the blonde man beside him. The tattoo artist breathed in and exhaled to calm himself down. He sat in the passenger seat with a content smile plastered on his face. He looked over and saw the same type of smile on Kai’s face as he looked out the windshield. They both sat in a comfortable silence just enjoying each other’s company. No words being exchanged until they came to a fast food joint. 

“I’ll pay. What did you want?” Kai broke the silence as they pulled up behind a car that was in front of them placing an order.

“I’ll pay for mine.” Ruki reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet.

“No, I’ll get it.” Kai chuckled.

“I’ll have you pay for me when we go to the morgue. I don’t wanna feel guilty for having you drive me AND pay for the meal.” Ruki joked back.

“Fine.” Kai threw his hands up in the air jokingly acting frustrated with Ruki. “You’re a fighter. What do you want?”

The car in front of them moved up allowing them to place their order after being greeted by a cheery squeaky voice. Once the order was placed, they moved up in the line of cars in the pursuit for fast food. They got to the food pick-up window and divided the cost amongst themselves. Having paid and got the food, they drove off.

“There’s a nice park not to far from here. Let’s sit in the fresh air while we eat.”

“As long as the sun doesn’t try to kill us I’m cool with that.”

“Don’t worry! There are trees that will provide shade from that vicious killer. We’ll just have to worry about the stalkers that hide out in the woods.”

“You really know how to show someone a good time.” Ruki spoke sarcastically, but at the same time he really did mean it. He was enjoying every minute.

They drove for a few more minutes until they came upon a wooded park. The park was void of people. The only other occupants of the park was the local wildlife which consisted of squirrels running along trees and ducks swimming along the surface of a small pound. Apart from the pound, there were benches littered throughout the park and around a jungle gym for children. The violent rays from the sun was unable to reach all of the park due to the looming trees providing shade for the wildlife. The tattoo artist stared in awe at the quaint park.

“Let’s go sit in the shade by the pound.” Kai spoke as he grab Ruki’s free hand while the other held his food. Holding hands, the blonde directed the shorter black hair man towards a shaded bench. It wasn’t until they reached the bench that Kai realized he was holding Ruki’s hand. But Ruki’s hand wasn’t limp. He was holding onto Kai’s hand as well, with his fingers intertwining with the blonde’s. Kai looked towards the tattoo artist behind him. The black hair man was staring blissfully at the pound with a slight pink tint visible on his cheeks. Kai sat down on the bench letting go of Ruki’s hand.

“Sorry.”

The dark eyes of Ruki’s looked from the pound and onto the bartender. His voice didn’t show any hesitation or nervousness. “For what?”

Was he playing dumb or was he just that oblivious? 

“For taking your hand without asking.” Kai spoke sheepishly.

“Oh.” The pink on Ruki’s cheeks developed into a full blown red. “It was so naturally that I honestly didn’t notice.” He looked at the pond as he spoke.

Kai felt his heart do somersaults in his chest. The man before him looked gorgeous and at peace.

“I should do it more often then.” Kai chuckled as he looked up at Ruki staring back at him. The playful look returned to the tattoo artist’s face, as well as his cynical attitude.

“I don’t like surprises. Maybe I’ll attach razor blades to my hands.”

“Aw, you’re so romantic.” Kai laughed. “Sit down. Let’s eat.”

Ruki took his seat beside Kai on the bench. They both unwrapped their greasy food and ate. The sun slithered some of it’s rays between the shadowing tree limbs. The light danced and sparkled off of the ripples in the pound. The ducks swam across the surface playing tag with the rays of light. The scene was tranquil to Ruki. 

Once they were finished with their food, Kai took their garbage and disposed of it in a nearby trash can. When he returned to the sit on the bench, the blonde felt warmth envelope his hand. Looking over astonished, he saw his hand being held by the tattoo artist. 

“Surprised you!” He giggled. He looked so innocent that it made Kai’s heart do flips again. This fucking man.

“So, you said earlier that you needed to get away from the bar today. Was it a bad day?” Ruki decided to initiate a conversation. He realized he always left it to Kai. Therefore he thought about their earlier text messages.

“Not really. I just saw one of my old professors and I hate when that happens.” Kai’s sunny smile dissolved. His grip on Ruki’s hand tightened a little.

“Professor?” Ruki became aware that he didn’t really know much about Kai except that he was a smiley bartender.

“Yeah, I went to college for two years before I quit.” A sigh escaped the the blondes lips. “And before you ask, I didn’t want to quit. My mom needed me.”

“What happened?” Ruki’s face reflected the empathy portrayed in his voice.

“She got really sick so I quit school so I would have more time to help her. I then got hired at the bar originally working part-time to try to bring in some income for us.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about.” Kai tried to put on a reassuring smile to make the tattoo artist not worry. But he couldn’t fool Ruki. “What’s done is done. I don’t regret what I did. But I just hate seeing old professors ‘cos I did really well at my studies and everytime I see them I could see in their eyes that they think I should be doing bigger, brighter things. ‘Following my dreams’”

“What did you want to do?”

“I wanted to be a social worker who help people.”

“Well, you technically do that now. Just instead of years and years of therapy, you solve people’s problems with alcohol.”

A chuckle from the blonde lifted the heavy mood. “I never knew you were an optimist.”

“I’m actually more of a pessimistic optimist. I’m positive that life sucks.” Ruki joked earning him another chuckle from Kai. “You always look so happy when you’re attending to the bar’s customers.”

“I love my job. It has its ups and downs. But what my old professors don’t realize is that I actually receive benefits from that job. Retirement plan and healthcare. They may not be the best but it beats nothing. And I would have to give that all up to go back to college.” 

“I take it that your mother’s health never improved.” Ruki could already tell the answer but he just had to hear it from the man beside him.

“No. She died right before I got full-time at the bar. She went peacefully though. Surrounded by family.” Kai’s sunny exterior was nonexistent. The serious look etched on his face was one that Ruki didn’t like. He hated to see his sunshine disappear. 

Wanting to cheer up the gloomy blonde, Ruki felt overcome with emotion and turned towards the man beside him. He leaned in and placed  a soft kiss onto the bartender’s cheek. Kai’s expression instantly changed from serious to one of surprise. He looked at the tattoo artist who was looking away shyly fully aware of what he had just done. With pouty lips, Ruki spoke to break the awkward silence he felt.

“I don’t like to see you frown.” Ruki turned to muster up the courage to look at Kai but was greeted by a pair of lips kissing his nose. Once Kai pulled his face away, Ruki could see a dimple form on the blondes cheek where he had previously kissed.

“You’re much shorter than I anticipated. Didn’t mean to get your nose.” The sunshine returned to Kai’s face.

The sun moved farther over the horizon making way for the moon to light up the nighttime. Fireflies began to dance around flashing their little lights in the soon-to-come darkness. The ducks waddled out of the pound towards their beds for the night. Squirrels made their way up the trees to their homes and families. Mosquitoes and other night time bugs woke up to fly through the night to find their nutrients. And on the bench in the dusk’s light, Ruki and Kai sat holding hands. Inside both of their chests their heartbeats accelerated. Ruki was glad he could help Kai out of his somber mood. Sitting beside him, the blonde was thankful that Ruki could make him forget about his pain. The hurt remained, but was subsided thanks to his Ruki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray for a new chapter! I think it's the longest one I've written so far. Of course dark humor makes a return. I just couldn't help it lol And I'm soo happy I could finally flesh out Kai! Up until now he just seemed to vanilla to me lol Well, I hope you guys enjoy this. Thank you once again to all you lovely people who show your support! You help keep me inspired <3 <3 <3


	6. Chapter 6

“Can I get another drink over ‘ere?”

“Sure thing!”

Kai grabbed a glass and filled it with the customers desired alcohol. The man requesting the drink gladly gulped the liquid down. The bar was lively which was strange for the middle of the a weekday. It had been two days since Kai’s and Ruki’s last outing and Kai was getting restless. The grinning blonde’s mind drifted towards the dark hair tattoo artist and their last date. He just kept thinking about the innocent kiss from Ruki, and every time a grin would make its way onto the bartender’s face.

After they exchanged kisses, they left the park and Kai drove Ruki to his studio. Ever since that night, they’ve only exchanged a few texts. Kai would always greet Ruki and the shorter man would usually respond with something sarcastic which Kai loved. He adored the fact that Ruki could be so dark but lighthearted. The tattoo artist also texted Kai that he was busy with work. The bartender knew Ruki could be a workaholic before he met him, so he figured a few days were understandable. After all, they’ve went out two days in a row. Ruki was probably feeling withdrawals from his work.

The bartender smiled as he remembered the first time he heard about Ruki. The first time Aoi showed up, he had two people with him. Kai now knows them as Uruha and Reita. Aoi was the first to strike up a conversation with Kai. The ponytail man would go to the bar to get the drinks and take them back to his friends. While Kai would be pouring them, the dark hair man would just start talking. After a few visits, Aoi began showing up by himself and sat at the bar talking to Kai as the blonde worked. Kai never minded the company because it would usually be during the slow parts of his shift. 

During these conversations, Aoi would mention anything and everything. One day the topic was tattoos and the dark haired man was more than happy to show off his detailed ink. The thought of tattoos was always fascinating to Kai, but he never considered one. He never liked the idea of having something in his skin forever. But while Aoi was talking about his tattoo, he brought up his really good friend, Ruki. The way he spoke about the tattoo artist intrigued the bartender. When Aoi said dark, cynical, workaholic; Kai heard the words honest and passionate. Up until that point, the only other tattoo artist Kai knew was Miyavi, who stopped in the bar every now and then. Miyavi was a really nice guy, but he seemed to draw a lot of attention. There would usually be a patron every now and then bragging about the fact that they got a tattoo from Miyavi. They treated him almost like a celebrity to some aspect. 

So when Aoi mentioned Ruki, Kai was surprised he never heard of him. And when the dark hair man revealed his tattoo, he suggested they go meet him; Kai was trying to hide the fact that he was ecstatic. Once Kai stepped foot into the studio, he began to study his surroundings. Kai was really drawn to the framed designs on the walls of the tiny studio. They were so beautiful and intricate. Obviously the person who designed them cared. When the tattoo artist emerged from behind the curtain, he was completely different than what the bartender imagined. Honestly, he was expecting someone more like Miyavi. But when he saw the the short man with black hair tied into a ponytail, he was pleasantly surprised. And Kai couldn’t help but look at the tattoos decorating the man’s arms. They were chaotic but fit well together. The blonde admired their beautiful complexity. The blonde bartender was intrigued by Ruki and was instantly infatuated after their conversation that night at Uruha’s and Reita’s apartment. 

Once the man left, Kai knew he had to meet the tattoo artist again. He was absolutely charming. Asking Aoi for his number was easy due to his drunken state. The look Uruha gave Kai that night, sent slight chills through the bartender. Almost as if the spacey blonde man could read Kai’s mind.

Once Kai had Ruki’s number, he texted right away without hesitation. The confidence lingered in him after their conversation. But the whole night after the text severely drained that confidence. Kai wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was anxious. He was worried that he came off to strong. They just met for Christ’s sake and he was already asking to meet up for drinks. That night he slept restlessly, worrying the whole night. His worries didn’t cease even as he went to work. Usually at work, the bartender could erase his mind and busy himself, but the tiny tattoo artist kept popping into his head. After a few hours of loathing himself, Kai’s mood instantly changed when his phone dinged signaling a reply from Ruki. The bartender was so ecstatic that he couldn’t help but reply immediately.

With the date set, the rest of the work day dragged. Especially with Kai being the only one working. During the hectic crowd of customers, the smiley blonde was amazed to see a familiar couple enter the bar. Aoi walked into the bar with a calm looking Uruha trailing behind him. The ponytailed man pulled the chair out for his blonde boyfriend who elegantly sat down. Kai made his way over to them to take their orders. Aoi kidded with the bartender while Uruha sat with a spacey look on his face. After that the next hour and a half flew by, Kai was so engrossed with his patrons at the bar that he was surprised when he took a quick glance towards Aoi and Uruha and say the tattoo artist sitting with them. The man with the ponytail and lip piercing was shaking his arm in an attempt get the bartender’s attention. While Kai was looking at the group his eyes met with Ruki and he couldn't help but smile more so. 

“Hey guys! Ruki you’re early.”

Kai mentally slapped himself. He completely forgot to mention to the others that he was going out with Ruki. Instead of panicking and making things more awkward for Ruki, the bartender was able to play it off. He was able to avoid any teasing from Aoi and continued to finish up his shift. Once he met up with the others, the blonde was surprised to see that Miyavi and Ruki knew each other. At the time, Kai could tell that Ruki was uncomfortable but he didn’t know why. However, the more the bartender thought about it, he could figure out that Ruki held disdain towards his fellow tattoo artist. The bartender pretty much figured that the contempt was due to rivalry and didn’t want to bring it up unless Ruki did. He just did not want to see that man uncomfortable again.

The rest of the evening played out better than he could have ever hoped. He felt like he got to see a side of Ruki not many could see. The love for cheesy horror movies was cute, and the bartender agreed to see one even though he was in no way a horror fan. Kai couldn’t help but get scared and reach for Ruki, his only companion, during the movie. He was pleased when Ruki did not let go of his hand. The thought still puts a dorky smile on Kai’s face.

The bartender was overjoyed about the date that he couldn't help but tell his coworker, Nao. And the text Kai received from Ruki about a second date, sent the blonde over the moon. He was worried that he was coming off too strong, but the tattoo artist’s text eased that worry.

Kai’s mind looped the two dates over and over in his head. He was lost in his thoughts only getting interrupted every few minutes to pour more drinks.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Kai turned to see Miyavi greeting him at the bar.

“Oh hey! Good! A little busy, but it makes the time fly.” Kai flashed a smile towards the tattoo artist.

Miyavi sat on stool of to the side of the bar tapping his feet. Kai thought it was unusual to see him this time of day.

“How’s work going?” The bartender’s curiosity got to him and he had to ask.

“It’s alright. Taking a break. Had five clients this morning alone. I tell you it’s exhausting. I envy Ruki.” Miyavi spoke while rubbing his face exaggerating his fatigued nature.

“Envy?” The blonde spoke as he poured Miyavi the drink he usually has. He was surprised to hear that. From what he understood, Miyavi seemed more successful than Ruki.

“Yeah. I always did. He always gets to do his own designs and they are pretty wicked.” Miyavi’s fatigue disappeared as he took a sip of his drink. He began to tap his feet more frequently. He appeared to get excited when he talked about Ruki. 

“Don’t you get to do your designs?” Kai was curious to hear more.

“Sometimes. I mainly just do whatever people hand me. I never can do any design I like. Nothing like Ruki.” Miyavi’s face filled with admiration for his fellow tattoo artist. “I know he doesn’t care for me too much.”

Kai’s eyes widened at that statement. “What makes you say that?”

A laugh escaped the tattoo artists throat. “Oh I know you can tell too. Ever since we did that apprenticeship together, I could tell that he just never cared for me.” Miyavi’s gaze switched from Kai towards the half empty class in front of him. “I can’t really blame him. I was kind of a jerk back then. I was very energetic and not really focused. I could never sit and spend hours on a tattoo like Ruki. I feel bad because of me he had to get those difficult tattoos early on. I didn’t do my first full sleeve tattoo until a year or so ago ”

Kai chuckled. “Well Ruki doesn’t seem to mind those complex tattoos. I think he enjoys losing himself in doing them.”

Miyavi didn’t respond right away. Instead he drank from his cup and looked around the bar. The blonde could tell that the tattoo artist felt a little awkward. Probably hasn’t told anybody about his admiration for Ruki before. Kai smiled to himself. Ruki had no idea how his passion drew admirers such as Kai and Miyavi. 

“How have you and Ruki been? Are you two an item yet?” Miyavi’s voice made Kai’s mind stumble and work to find an answer.

“I guess. I mean we’ve had two dates.” Kai tried to hide the warmth he felt in his cheeks. 

“He’s a hard one to talk to. I’m glad you got through to him.” Miyavi rose his almost empty glass in the form of a toast. Kai looked around and noticed that the bar had died down a bit. Nao was running around and taking care of the few customers that Kai accidentally neglected while he was talking to Miyavi. With everyone taking care of thanks to Nao, Kai filled up the tattoo artist’s glass and continued to chat with him. He had to share his problems with someone and since Miyavi opened up to him, maybe he could do the same.

“Thanks. I just hope I didn’t upset him or something.” Kai expressed his worries.

“What makes you say that. You guys looked happy the other day.”

“Yeah, that was two days ago. I keep texting him. And I’m worried I’m bothering him.” The insecurity took hold of the bartender and would not let go. He couldn’t help but feel clingy, and he hated himself for that.

Miyavi moved a hand to rest on the blonde’s arm. “I’m sure you are not bothering him. He probably just needs some time to himself.”

The tattoo artist moved his hand and rested it back on his drink. Kai couldn't’ believe that he was starting to feel better just by talking to Miyavi. He had a tinge of guilt spilling his worries to someone Ruki didn’t necessarily like.

“Thanks, man.”

“Hey thank you for hearing me whine earlier. You probably deal with that crap all the time being a bartender.” The dark hair man chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I do. But I’ve had worse. I bet you hear people talk about their relationships while you are tattooing them.” Kai kidded the man.

“Oh God! I don’t know how many name tattoos I’ve done or had to change. Honestly, people should never get names tattooed on them!”

“Maybe they should carve the name into their arms instead. Cheaper.” Kai quickly covered his mouth not being able to believe the dark comment that he just said. Miyavi, on the other hand, was cheerfully laughing and shaking his head.

“Ruki’s rubbing off on you, my man.”

Kai lowered his hand and smiled softly to himself. He really did admire Ruki’s quick-wittedness. At the mention of the small tattoo artist's name, the pain of not seeing him slowly crept into Kai’s being. The bartender felt clingy once again and he despised himself for it. Ruki was a solitary person and needed his space, but Kai just couldn’t help but feel like embracing the other man and never letting go. 

_ Ding _

Kai’s mind halted at the noise from his phone. Normally he wouldn’t have his phone while working. But since he meet Ruki, he always keeps it with him. The bartender’s face brightened up as he grabbed his phone.

Miyavi continued drinking as he watched Kai’s face change from one excitement to one of defeat.

“Who’s that?” The tattooed man made a motion towards the phone.

“Just Aoi wanting to see if I was doing anything later. I’ll reply after work.

“Oh.”

Just then another ding from Kai’s phone grabbed the two men’s attention. Kai rolled his eyes and looked at his phone. 

_ 1 new message from Ruki _

A huge dumb grin painted the bartender’s face. He instantly opened the message to read it.

“Speak of the devil.” Miyavi hid his coy smirk behind his drink.

_ Hey! Sorry we haven’t really seen each other in a few days. Up for something tonight? _

The self loathing attitude from before immediately disappeared. The dimpled smile was plastered on his face. Kai almost laughed with how fast Ruki could change his mood. The little self critical voice in the back of the bartender’s mind was silent and replaced with the sound of Kai’s accelerated heartbeat. The blonde smirked as he placed a hand on his chest and forgot his hurtful feelings from earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. All of August is probably going to be hard for me to keep a constant posting schedule. Work has been a killer :P But I'm going to try my damnedest to post once a week, probably won't happen. But hey, at least my intentions are good. Anyways, just wanted to thank all you lovely people out there who have enjoyed this fic. I have the ending planned and want to write it, but I have to feel in the blanks along the way :P ENJOY AND THANK YOU <3 <3 <3 <3


	7. Chapter 7

The the blackness of the night was contrasted by the bright stars scattered across the sky. The streetlights lit up Kai’s path as he walked. It was only an hour ago that the sun was blaring down on the blonde as he went back to his apartment to get ready for his date with Ruki. He was ecstatic that they were able to meet up again. Not being able to see Ruki made Kai feel clingy and he didn’t like that.

Fireflies danced and frollicked in the sky. Their brightness mirroring the stars. An occasional car would drive by Kai momentarily putting him in their headlights. Apart from the few cars, the streets were bare. The cracking sidewalks were only occupied by the bartender’s footsteps and the occasional piece of liter. Off in the distance, the sound of cars and other bigger motor vehicles could be heard. 

Apart from the vehicles, the stillness of the night was Kai’s companion as he reached his destination. After the silent walk, the blonde was standing outside a small brick building with a black hunk of wood displaying the location’s name. “Abyss” in red letters let Kai know that he was at Ruki’s studio. As he got closer, he saw a familiar man leaning against the building smoking.

The tattoo artist turned his head and smiled brightly at the approaching blonde.

“Hey. Sorry I’ve been busy.” Ruki said as Kai leaned on the building beside the black hair man.

“It’s okay.” Kai laughed as he tried to play off how much he missed the cynical tattoo artist. Seeing him again calmed down the blonde’s nerves. The clingy feeling from before dissipated.

“Let me just close up the studio. My last client ran a little late.” Crushing his cigarette against the side of the building, Ruki headed into his studio with Kai following behind him. 

Once inside, the bartender couldn’t help but have his eyes wander. Dancing back and forth, his eyes examined the framed pictures decorating the walls. He was impressed by the tattoo artist’s talent. He understood why Miyavi looked up to him. You could see Ruki’s hard work and dedication reflected in his designs. He obviously enjoyed his work.

The blonde continued to admire the pictures as Ruki tidied up his workplace. After finishing up, the tattoo artist turned to see Kai focusing on a picture near the entrance. Walking towards the bartender, Ruki could see the serious look painted on Kai’s face. Kai’s eyes were focused and piercing holes in the image.

“That’s a picture of the first tattoo I got.” Ruki’s voice drew Kai out of his daze. He turned and made eye contact with Ruki. The minute their eyes met, Kai’s serious appearance dissolved making way for the dimpled smile Ruki has come to love.

“‘Overcome all difficulties’. I like that.” Kai’s grin downsized to a relaxed smirk. “When did you get that?”

“Back at the beginning of my apprenticeship. I got that one, and then it spiraled into all of these.” Ruki said as he held up his arms showing off his many tattoos twisting, merging, and combining together. Kai couldn’t help but be mesmerized by them. 

“Those are so beautiful on you.” Without thinking, Kai blurted out his internal thoughts and he didn’t realize it until Ruki looked away trying to hide the redness of his cheeks.

“Um...thanks.” The tattoo artist mumbled as he hid his arms behind him like a small child.

Kai’s face mirrored the redness of Ruki’s. Registering the awkwardness that his earlier statement caused, he began to ramble.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Really really sorry! I mean, they really do look good on you! Um…. I mean you look good with or without tattoos but what I mean is they don’t make you look like a degenerate like tattoos do with some people! I just-”

The bartender’s prattle was interrupted by a timid laugh. Every muscle in Kai’s body instantly relaxed at the sound coming from Ruki.

“You talk too much.” Ruki’s laugh died down to reveal a smirk across his black painted lips. The shorter man leaned up and planted a quick peck onto Kai’s cheek. “Let’s go before you give me an aneurysm from all your talking.”  

Walking out the door towards the back of the workplace, Ruki turned off the lights leaving Kai to stand alone in the dark for a quick second before completely processing what happened. The blonde put his hand on his cheek where he could still feel the warmth of the tattoo artist’s lips. Blushing furiously, he left the darkened studio to follow Ruki up to his apartment. 

Entering the apartment, the men were greeted by a little black chihuahua. The dog wagged his butt energetically as he danced around Ruki’s feet. He hovered around Ruki showing apprehension towards Kai.

“This is Koron. It takes some time for him to get use to new people. He’ll warm up to you. Don’t worry.” The black haired man chuckled as he tried to walk towards his living room without stepping on the excited pooch. 

Seeing Ruki smile brightly as he looked down at Koron made Kai’s chest tighten. He was so cute. Kai couldn’t help but notice how calm Ruki was in his own home; not like how he acted at the bar. The blonde walked towards the living room and took his place on the sofa next to the tattoo artist. The tiny chihuahua got lifted onto the spot on the other side of Ruki.

“A little spoiled, eh?” Kai joked.

“You’re just jealous.”

Ruki wasn’t wrong. Kai couldn’t help but feel a little envious of Koron. “So what movie did you want to watch?” 

“I figured I chose last time. I have a little bookshelf over there with movies. I’ll let you pick.”

Getting off the couch, the blonde sat down in front of the bookcase browsing through Ruki’s movie collection.

“It’s not really much of a choice if you don’t have anything other than horror, you know?” Kai laughed as he flipped through one scary movie after another.

“Oh come on. Some of those are so terrible they shouldn’t be considered horror.”

Turning around to look at Ruki, Kai spoke “Some of theses have to be made up. No way these are all real.”

The blonde’s reply from the black haired man was a chuckle . A smile remained on Ruki’s face. Kai proceeded to turn around and continue going through the collection of movies.

“ _ Attack of the Giant Leeches, The Horrors of Spider Island, The Giant Spider Invasion, Human Centipede. _ Yeah I don’t like bugs so those ones are a no.”

“I don’t think bugs will be your problem in  _ Human Centipede _ .” Ruki mumbled and laughed to himself.

“I’m just gonna choose the least ridiculous sounding one.” Kai said and got up to reveal his movie pick.

“ _ Dracula  AD 1972 _ ?! You chose that over  _ Human Centipede _ ? Really? It’s so terrible though.” 

The look on Ruki’s surprised face made Kai laugh hysterically. “I have to see it now!”

A doorbell interrupted their merriment.

“I am going to require pizza to sit through that ulcer of a move. Luckily, I ordered some before you showed up.” Ruki got up from the couch and headed out the apartment's door and made his way to the door and headed down the steps to the door leading to the alley.

While Ruki was gone, Kai put in the dvd and sat on the couch patiently waiting. The tattoo artist’s apartment was pretty plain. Unlike the studio, there were no pictures on the walls. Only a few posters of movies and rock bands occupied the grey walls. On top of the bookcase housing the movies, a framed picture of Koron sat. 

While looking around the apartment, Kai almost jumped at the sudden warmth he felt by his leg. He looked down to see that Koron had walked from his end of the couch over towards Kai. The blonde laughed and began to lightly stroke the dog’s back. Koron showed his approval by moving onto Kai’s lap.

“What a little hussy.” Kai looked up to see a smiling Ruki walking through the door with two medium sized pizza boxes. He set them down on his tiny kitchen table. “He only ever hops onto my lap. I feel betrayed.” The tattoo artist faked a swooning motion.

“It’s not what it looks like, babe! He came onto me!” Kai played along with the dramatics. Both of them laughed at the ridiculousness. Moving Koron off his lap, the blonde got up from the couch and met Ruki in the tiny kitchen.

“Anyways. I got us two pizzas. One with pepperoni and one without. I didn’t know if you liked one over the other so I played it safe.” the tattoo artist retrieved two plates and handed one to Kai.

“All pizza is good in my eyes.” The bartender spoke as he flashed a dimpled grin towards his companion.

“Even when they start getting ‘creative’ with different fruits and vegetables like pineapple and broccoli?”

“Well, since I don’t know where you stand on The Great Pizza Divide, I’m just going to remain silent.”

“Smart move.” Ruki chuckled as Kai reached to grab a slice from both pizzas.

As he reached, Ruki couldn’t help but stare at the blonde’s arms. Unlike his, they were ink free and the skin looked smooth and flawless. To make matters worse, Ruki was hypnotized by the visible muscles moving under the skin. He couldn’t help but be enamored by those arms. He tried to stop his mind from wandering and imagining being wrapped into an embrace by them. Blinking his eyes, he shook his head and looked up towards Kai’s smiling face to see that the man has caught him staring. The tattoo artist’s face instantly turned red and he felt an uncomfortable heat take over his face. The awkward silence grew with each passing second. Ruki’s mind snapped as he tried to dismantle the silence.

“Uh… Sorry. There’s is….Um...There is nothing wrong with your arms. I was just uh.. Just admiring them. You see, I don’t really see plain looking arms. Not that your arms are plain or anything. In fact, they are very beautiful. I’m just used to seeing arms like mine. All marked up with ink, you know. And your arms are just so-.”

As Ruki vomited words out of his mouth, Kai was moving slowly towards the babbling tattoo artist. While Ruki was distracted by his words and thoughts, Kai leaned towards the constantly moving black lips and pressed his softly against them. It was only for a few seconds, but the tattoo artist instantly went silent. Once Kai pulled away he could see that the black hair man stood still. The silence returned but this time it was not awkward.

“I guess we’re even now.” The warm smile from Kai melted Ruki out of his frozen state.

“I guess so. Can we agree to stop being idiotic morons?”

“No promises.” Kai turned to enter into the living room.

Ruki grabbed some slices of pizza and followed. They both sat down on the couch to watch the movie. Koron hopped off and went towards his food dish to eat while the two men consumed their food. As soon as Kai pushed play, the cynical comments rolled out of them. Ruki was picking apart the plot while Kai was making fun of hairstyles and clothing choices. The couple devoured one pizza and relaxed on the couch as they continued to take jabs at the movie. 

About halfway through the movie, Ruki felt something behind him. He noticed that Kai had put his arm along the back of the couch. All of a sudden, Ruki had trouble focusing on the movie. Instead, his mind drifted towards thoughts of Kai’s arms wrapping around him. The tattoo artist realized that Kai hadn’t said a comment towards the movie for a little while. Perhaps he was lost in his head as well. 

Ruki decided to get a reaction out of the quiet blonde. Shifting his weight to one side of his body, he leaned into Kai resting his body along the bartender’s. He felt the blonde tense at first. But once he realized what Ruki was doing, Kai relaxed. He brought his arm down and rested it around Ruki’s waist, pulling the black haired man slightly closer. Feeling at ease with Kai’s arms around him, Ruki rested his head on the other man’s chest. 

“I enjoy having you around.” Ruki lazily spoke.

“Don’t tell me you are getting all mushy on me, now?” Kai chuckled.

“I changed my mind.”

“That’s too bad. ‘Cos I do enjoying being around you. I really like you, Ruki. Your honest, creative, and funny. I admire you and I’m not the only one.”

“Please stop before you make me vomit.” Ruki closed his eyes as he listened to Kai’s soothing heartbeat.

“It’s true. I was talking to Miyavi today. And I know you don’t care for him, but he said he looks up to you.”

The sound of the other tattoo artist’s name produced a bitter feeling inside of Ruki. Ruki just couldn’t help but dislike the man. But what he loathed more was the idea that Kai talked to Miyavi. He couldn’t help but feel a jealous and he hated himself for it.

“Mmmm.” A hum was Ruki’s only reply towards Kai.

The bartender planted a kiss on tattoo artist’s forehead. “You should give him a chance. He doesn’t seem like a bad guy, babe.”

“Babe? Since when did you start calling me that? I’m not a pig.”

“No, you’re more like a fluffy lamb. I mean just look at your hair.” Kai used his hand that wasn’t around Ruki to fluff up the tattoo artist’s ponytail. He was instantly slapped away by a laughing Ruki.

“Just shut up and watch the movie.” 

The men quieted down and turned their attentions towards the movie. Neither of them knew what was going on in the film anymore. Kai’s eyes began to close with Ruki’s following soon after. Falling into a light snooze, Kai’s deep breaths soothed Ruki into a calming state. It took a few minutes until Ruki’s thoughts quieted down to allow him some rest. He just couldn’t calm down about Miyavi being friendly with Kai. Hearing Kai’s heartbeat, the tattoo artist figured he should give Miyavi a chance for the blonde’s sake. If Kai found the man tolerable, he couldn’t be all bad. But he just couldn’t help but remember how obnoxious the man was during their apprenticeship. The jealousy kept Ruki from blissfully drifting off. The jealousy hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting! Work sucks lol Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I had to add some mentions of horror movies <3 Fun Fact: Dracula AD 1972 is one of my least favorites movies. I just thought it was so terrible that I couldn't sit threw it lmao Once again thank you all for sticking with it this far! I might only make it till ten chapters, still a little undecided. Depends how the next chapter goes lol Anyways I'll shut up now!! <3 <3 <3


	8. Chapter 8

Standing outside the apartment door, Kai knocked. He heard familiar voices and laughter behind the entrance. The faint sound of music filled the silence in between the bouts of chuckles. After knocking, Kai was greeted by Uruha welcoming him into the apartment. Entering, the blonde bartender was welcomed by the group of friends. Sitting on the couch, a familiar man sat with a lip piercing, Aoi. Beside him was an empty spot which Kai assumed was occupied by Uruha. Beside the couch in a recliner, a familiar blonde spiky haired man sat.

“Welcome! Glad you could make it.” Reita spoke while raising his cup.

Opposite Reita, Miyavi sat on the ground near the center coffee table. The men were surrounded by empty alcoholic beverage containers. The tattoo artist looked jittery from the drinks. Aoi shared the jitters. Reita was tapping his foot to the music playing from the stereo along the wall.

“Looks like you guys are having fun.” Kai chuckled.

“Getting older requires alcohol.” The spiky blonde joked. 

“Happy Birthday, by the way. Sorry I didn’t bring you guys a present.” Kai had been racked with indecisiveness ever since Aoi told him about the joint birthday celebration for Uruha and Reita. He was unsure what to buy them for a present. Thankfully, Aoi made a ‘no-presents’ rule. It was just going to be a fun little get-together.

“Your smiling face is all we need. It took me FOREVER to convince them to celebrate!” Aoi cheerfully chirped. 

“I really don’t see the big deal.” Uruha spoke in a calm voice.

“Aoi just wanted an excuse to drink.” Miyavi laughed and ducked just in time to miss the empty cup thrown by Aoi.

“Shut up! I just wanted to celebrate another year with the most beautiful man in the world!” Aoi draped his arm around Uruha who just rolled his eyes.

“Hey, thanks. The feeling isn’t mutual though.” Reita snarked.

“Shut up, bird-brain.”

Laughing at the shenanigans, Kai grabbed a drink and took his seat on the floor close to Miyavi. Looking around, everyone was there. Almost everyone. Ruki couldn’t make it till later due to work. The blonde felt a twinge of loneliness creep up into his heart as he sat down on the floor in the exact spot when he first talked to Ruki. This time, however, Ruki was not beside him. After seeing each other for a few months, the bartender got used to the tattoo artist’s schedule. Some days were busier than others. Kai understood that, but that didn’t help the isolated feelings that occasionally appeared.

The feeling of loneliness was numbed thanks to the help of everyone’s cheerfulness. Aoi and Reita kept the party alive with their bickering and jokes at each other’s expense. If Kai didn’t know the group so well, he would’ve thought that Aoi and Reita were together. As the two squabbled, the rest of them sat back and enjoyed the show. It reminded Kai a lot of his first meeting with Ruki. As everyone was having fun, they consumed more and more alcohol. 

“Hey guys. We are running low on drinks. I’ll run out to get us some.” Miyavi practically jumped up. “I just got a burst of energy and I need to walk and stretch. If I let this stamina go unchecked it may result in property damage.”

“Good idea. I’ll give you some money.” Reita was getting up to grab his wallet.

“No need. It’s your birthday. Just sit and have fun.”

“Ugh! This is why I didn’t want to celebrate. Nobody lets you do anything.” Reita joked before plopping back down in his chair.

“Mr. Bird-feather isn’t having fun,” Aoi spoke. “C’mon lighten up! He’ll buy you some birdseed if you want.”

“Knock it off with the bird crap.” Reita threw something at Aoi but Miyavi didn’t get to see it due to the fact that he was already heading out the door. All he heard was the impact of the item hitting Aoi followed by the dark haired man’s cry of pain. Laughing, Miyavi closed the door to the apartment.

The tattoo artist left the apartment and walk a few blocks down the road to a liquor store. While heading, Miyavi’s thoughts drifted back to the group at the apartment. He always enjoyed hanging with them. They were funny and laid-back. Reita and Aoi were a guaranteed fun time when they are together. Uruha helps to keep them grounded. Kai was a nice guy, someone he could be comfortable around. 

As he thought of them, his mind wandered to the absent member, Ruki. He was both happy and sad that his fellow tattoo artist was not at the party yet. At least without Ruki there, Miyavi didn’t have to try to ignore the disdain he felt coming off of the man. He could just focus on having a good time. But Miyavi admired the man and his artwork and enjoyed hearing Ruki talk about his work. In a way, Miyavi was envious of Ruki. The shorter man got to do designs of his own and they were always great. Miyavi wished he had Ruki’s creative freedom.

Miyavi made his way to the store and bought a case of drinks. On his way back he was greeted by a familiar man arriving at the piercing parlor at the same time as him. 

“Hey, Ruki.” Miyavi waved to his fellow tattoo artist. He was greeted by the shorter man looking up at him with a tired expression. A thin smile painted Ruki’s black lips. It was hard to decipher whether the smile was genuine or a front to hide his distaste.

“Hey. Nice newborn. What’s its name?” Ruki spoke while pointing to the case of alcohol cradled in Miyavi’s arms.

It took a moment for Miyavi to register the black haired man’s joke. A smile spread across his lips as he played along.

“Her name is Veronica! She was just delivered a few minutes ago. She has her mother’s aluminum skin. The strong smell she gets from me.”

A smile spread across Ruki’s black lips.

“You’re blaming that stench on your daughter? Isn’t that bad parenting?”

“I gotta blame it on someone. And since she can’t defend herself it seems like the perfect scapegoat. When you become a father, you’ll understand.”

“So before we head up, can you give me a quick review? How drunk is everyone? I really don’t feel like dealing with a hyperactive Aoi after work.”

“Nobody’s that bad yet. I stress the ‘yet’ part. Where you really working this late?” Miyavi’s joking expression changed to a quizzical one. He was interested in Ruki’s work.

“Yeah.”

“Long session?”

“No. I had a client who wanted me to design a tattoo for them and I’ve been busy doing that.”

“That’s awesome!”

“I guess.” Ruki rubbed the back of his neck to try to distract himself from warm feeling crawling along his cheeks. Somehow, praise coming from Miyavi sounds...weird. “I do this kind of stuff all the time.”

“But it must be so rewarding to have people requesting your designs?!” Miyavi couldn’t help but get a little excited. 

Ruki just shrugged at Miyavi’s voice. His face was still burning red. The tiny tattoo artist casted his gaze downwards towards the ground trying to hide the redness from the taller man in front of him. 

“I guess it is. But it can be bad for business too. Sometimes people don’t like my designs and want to change it. Often times I refuse and they leave.”

“I’ve heard.”

“Huh?” Ruki looked up towards Miyavi to see a serious look on his face. 

“I’ve heard. Every now and then, someone comes through my door and they would tell me about how they went to someone else and they didn’t do what said person wanted. Then they show me your design and how they want this or that altered. Honestly, the original design is always better, but I just comply and move on.”

The air between the two was still. Both of the men were circling thoughts through their heads. Ruki was processing what Miyavi said. His attention was snapped back onto the man in front of him when he spoke.

“Sorry.”

“For what?” Ruki was hit with a wave of confusion. Honestly, Miyavi hadn’t said anything to really upset him. 

“For a lot of things, I guess. I’m sorry that I change your designs to satisfy those people who come in. I really shouldn’t alter your art. And-”

“It’s fine” Miyavi was interrupted by his fellow tattoo artist. Ruki usually couldn’t stand Miyavi, but seeing the man in front of him being open and honest made him tolerable. In fact, this was the longest conversation Ruki ever had with Miyavi.

“Honestly, I’m a little mad that you do change the designs, but,” Ruki stopped and quickly went through his head thinking of what to say. “But, as long as my name doesn’t get attached to that work…….I’m happy. I mean, I have a vision. And if it’s altered, it’s not mine. I wish I could be like you and make everybody happy.”

A cool breeze moved a few strands of Miyavi’s hair as it bathed the two men in the night air. A question crept at the back of Miyavi’s brain.  _ Did Ruki complement him? Is that really how Ruki felt? _

“I’m envious of you’re artistic skill. I can’t help but compromise my vision. If I make a design and someone wants to change a major part of it, I do it without hesitation.” Miyavi’s usual happy complexion was changed to one melancholy. His eyes danced around the ground along Ruki’s feet.

While Miyavi spoke, Ruki felt the tattoo artist start to chip at the disdain he held in his heart. He always thought that Miyavi enjoyed being the popular tattoo artist. He didn’t stop to think that he had little artistic creativity over his works.

“You’re charisma is infectious.”

“What?” 

“You are a super friendly person. You want to make everybody happy and that’s why you are willing to sacrifice your’s and other’s designs. It’s not a bad thing if you are doing it for someone else’s happiness,” Ruki said. His mind was racing with thoughts as he was trying to piece them together to form sentences. Simultaneously, Miyavi was doing the same.

“You do the same thing, sorta.” Miyavi’s cheerfulness returned.

The taller tattoo artist’s only reply was the smaller one shooting a quizzical look at him.

“Listen, I know you don’t really like me. But you put up with me for the sake of everyone else. You want them to be happy so you suck it up.”

“I’m sorry. My distaste towards you is very grade-school, isn’t it.”

“It is. But it is understandable.” Miyavi laughed. “To think, we both have something each other envies.”

“Shut up. You’re making it hard to dislike you.” Ruki chuckled. He felt the redness of his face relax along with the air around him.

The serious atmosphere surrounding their conversation shifted towards a light-hearted vibe. And they were back to joking with each other.

“Are we done stroking each other’s ego? This sap is gonna make me vomit.” Ruki crossed his arms.

“Hasn’t Kai’s warmth and friendliness rub off on you at all?” Miyavi joked.

“Bite me.”

“You know, Kai’s been saying some dark comments. I’m worried you’re corrupting that poor soul.”

“Do I need to repeat myself?” Ruki casted a playful look up at Miyavi. “Why don’t we take your ‘child’ upstairs? I’m sure everyone is wondering where we are.”

_ Ding _

After Ruki spoke his last sentence, his phone signaled that he received a message from Aoi.

“See what I mean.” The shorter black haired man said as he pulled his phone and read the message out loud.

“Ru! When you coming? Can you find Miyavi? He supposed to be getting more to drink.” The end of the message was littered with various emojis.

Reaching into his pocket with his free hand, Miyavi pulled out his phone to see that he had three unread messages from Aoi all asking of his whereabouts.

“Well, we better get up there. I don’t want three more messages.” Miyavi shifted the case in his arms. And followed behind Ruki into the building. 

As they walked up the stairs leading to the apartment, Ruki felt lighter. Miyavi managed to remove some of the scabbed over jealousy Ruki kept securely on his heart. He was not used to this feeling. First, Kai managed past Ruki’s dark and cynical barrier and into his heart and now Miyavi was making his way.

Once the tattoo artists entered the apartment, they were greeted and bombarded by questions of their whereabouts. The questions ceased once Miyavi presented the case in his arms. Ruki looked over towards Kai and his heart melted at the site of the gorgeous blonde’s dimpled smile. Plopping down beside him, Kai leaned over and placed his soft lips on Ruki’s black ones in a loving kiss. They both smiled as the blonde leaned away.

“I missed you.” Kai’s whisper was barely audible over the ruckus from the other guys. But it was loud enough to send shivers throughout Ruki’s body.

He never thought he could have fallen so madly in love with someone, but Kai proved him wrong. As the party progressed, Kai remained by Ruki’s side as Ruki’s thoughts danced around his head. His mind kept going back to the conversation he had with Miyavi. When Ruki looked over towards the fellow tattoo artist, he did not feel the jealousy or disdain he used to feel. Those feelings were replaced with admiration and respect for the man. Instead of a rival, he viewed the man as a friend. He never thought that to be possible. Maybe Kai was rubbing off onto him? Ruki felt his heartbeat inside of him free of jealousy, hatred, or pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I haven't been as active as I liked, but writer's block and self-loathing tends to make you unproductive lol I had trouble liking anything I wrote. I'm thinking I might only have two chapters left for this fic, depends how the next chapter goes. Anyways, thank you everybody for reading and enjoying and hopefully I can get the next chapter up faster. <3


	9. Chapter 9

The noise of the bar began to die down as the crowd thinned out. Happy hour had come and gone in the blink of an eye. Nao was behind the bar. His purple hair was glistening from sweat that stuck uncomfortable to him from running around behind the counter. Out on the floor, Kai walked from table to table to check on the patreons. He took orders, got the drinks from Nao, and returned to the customers. Each customer was greeted with the blonde bartender’s infectious smile.

Once Kai could breathe again, he walked behind the bar to relax. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Busy, huh?”

Kai grinned as he recognized the voice belonging to Miyavi. The tattoo artist was sitting at the end of the counter nursing a beer. Sitting beside him was another familiar face with a relaxed demeanor.

“At least you are almost done.” Uruha spoke calmly. If the bar was any busier, it would have been hard to hear him.

“Yea. Who knew this many thirsty people could produce this much heat?” The bartender chuckled.

“The bar’s air conditioner is broken. It hasn’t kicked on in the last half hour.” Uruha pointed out flatley.

A surprised expression painted across Kai’s face. They’ve been here for a half hour and he hadn’t noticed?

“As soon as we walked in, we saw you were busy so we sat here as not to bother you.” Miyavi seemed to answer the question floating around the blonde’s head.

“Happy one year anniversary, by the way.” A smile cracked along the face of the relaxed blonde. “Miyavi told me the gift you got Ruki.”

“You better keep quiet. I want it to be a surprise. I’ll hurt you if you tell.” Kai joked as he lightly rubbed his left forearm.

“Don’t worry! I only told Uruha and Reita. And we promised not to tell Aoi. Cross my heart.” Miyavi held his hand up and used his other hand to draw an ‘x’ across his chest.

“Good.” Kai was smiling when Nao came up to him.

“Hey, it’s close enough to the end of your shift. If you want to leave, you can go. I can handle it. I know you have plans.” The purple haired man winked and spoke with a childish voice. It was surprising to think he could handle a bar full of people by himself.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m tired of looking at your sweaty face, anyways.” A high-pitched chuckle escaped Nao’s lips as he lightly punch Kai’s shoulder.

“Thanks. I promise I’ll cover your shift sometime.” Kai was pulling his hair tie out of his hair and letting his blonde locks fall down to his shoulder. His forehead continued to glisten with sweat. As he pulled the hair tie out, it snapped and laid broken in the bartender’s hand. He slipped it into his pocket to dispose of it later.

“Have fun. You kids make good choices,” Miyavi winked. “Hope Ruki likes your gift.”

“I do too.” 

With that Kai walked to the back room to change out of his bartender get-up. At the counter Miyavi and Uruha sat and were shortly joined by Reita with a cheerful Aoi following soon behind. They laughed and joked with each other, while Uruha sat staring off into space. He couldn’t help but get the feeling that Ruki was not going to like his gift. But he decided to keep quiet anyways.

Outside in the the still summer air, Kai was ready for his date with Ruki. He was sporting a pair of blue jeans with a black band t shirt. Overtop of the shirt, the blonde wore a lightweight cardigan to cover his arms. Making his way to his car parked down the street, he smiled as he reminisced about his year with Ruki. 

The sun slowly tiptoed over the horizon as Kai drove towards the fast food joint he took Ruki too almost a year ago. The disappearing sun helped to put a slight chill in the air. The street lights began to flicker on one by one, illuminating the bartenders path. Within a couple minutes, Kai was at the familiar food joint. While waiting in the drive-thru, he sent a text to the tattoo artist to let him know where he was at.

Once he placed their orders, he drove up and waited behind another car. While waiting, Kai’s phone dinged to signal a message.

_ Shit! Didn’t realize the time! Give me a bit! _

The bartender chuckled imagining that Ruki lost track of time due to his last client. That man loved to work. He replied back to the text.

_ Ok! You have a half hour. _

Putting his phone down on the empty passenger seat, Kai pulled up to the drive-thru window to pick up his order and pay. Once he grabbed the food, he pulled over to a vacant parking spot to make sure the order was correct. God help anyone who gets Ruki’s order wrong. Satisfied with the order, Kai drove on towards Ruki’s studio. They plotted another movie night, since Ruki always enjoyed them. Kai enjoyed them too, even though Ruki kept trying to get him to watch  _ Human Centipede _ . He was just not ready for that yet.The terrible movies began to grow on the bartender. The passion that seeped out of the tattoo artist was infectious and was a constant reminder as to why Kai loved the man so much. 

Thoughts of the tiny tattoo artist trekked around the blondes head all the way to the studio. He arrived at the little brick building and parked along the sidewalk. Once Kai got out of his car he was hit with the humidity that clung to the summer air. The vanishing sun might have chilled the air temperature a bit, but did little for the sticky feeling hovering around. The bartender rolled up his right sleeve in an attempt to cool down a little. 

Looking at the building, Kai could see that Ruki did close down his studio for the night. So he knew the black haired man was at least in his apartment. Grabbing the bags of greasy food, Kai walked along the sidewalk and turned at the side of the building to enter the small alleyway leading to the back door of the building. The bartender entered the unlocked door and walked up the stairs leading up to the apartment. Once he reached the door to the apartment, he heard faint movement behind the door. He knocked.

“Shit! Hold on!” Ruki could be heard behind the door. Little barks accompanied the tattoo artist’s command.

Kai smiled to himself as he pictured Koron running around his master’s feet. His grin grew wider as the door was opened and he was graced with Ruki’s makeupless face. His eyes were free of any eyeshadow or liner. And his lips were pale instead of the usual black.

“That was not a half hour!” The little tattoo artist pouted and turned to let Kai through the door into his apartment.

“So I’m bad at telling time. Sue me!” Kai shrugged and entered as Koron greeted him by sniffing his feet. Once satisfied, the tiny chihuahua roamed over and laid down in a spot he claimed in the tiny kitchen.

“I’ll sue you for all you’re worth, but I’m afraid it wouldn’t be much.”

“Aw stop getting mushy on me! My fragile heart can’t take it.” Kai plopped the food onto the coffee table before doing the same with his body and the couch. “Let’s eat! And don’t worry I made sure they got your order right. I don’t not want to invoke your wrath.”

“I have trained you well.” Ruki chuckled and took his seat to the right of the gorgeous blonde on his sofa. He took his food from Kai and began to eat. While the two ate, they exchanged information about each other’s day. With the weather begin warmer, Kai was busy dealing with thirsty people all day. Ruki had more clients than usual, and the last one was getting their first tattoo. Those people always held a special place in the tattoo artist’s heart. He loved the innocence and excitement that oozed out of them. It always renewed his love for his work.

“So we both had busy days, huh?” Kai spoke in between bites of his hamburger.

“Yeah. I didn’t realized my first clients appointment was so early. I never had time to put on any makeup.” The black haired man lifted his left hand up to shield his face.

“You’re so breathtaking that I didn’t even notice.” 

Ruki removed his hand from his face and slapped Kai’s side. 

“Not while I’m eating. I might regurgitate the food.” A sly smile painted Ruki’s face.

The smile quickly dissolved as Kai leaned in and planted a kiss against the tattoo artist’s smooth cheek. Blushing violently, Ruki turned away from the man and got up off the couch. The bartender was smiling profusely at his actions and at the fact that Ruki could still be shy with his emotions.

“What movie you want to watch?” Ruki still faced away from Kai hoping to change the topic.

“I think I’m ready to conquer my fears and watch that giant spider one.”

“ _ Giant Spider Invasion _ ?”

“Bring it on.” With Kai’s statement, Ruki finally faced the blonde. Some redness still lingered on the man’s cheeks. He put in the terrible movie and returned to his spot back on the couch.

After the opening credits, Kai relaxed into the comfy couch. He drapped an arm over Ruki’s shoulder. Within a few minutes of the movie playing, the bartender noticed that the dark haired man had not said a single comment. He nudged Ruki a little to get his attention. The tattoo artist jumped. It was obvious that he just returned from deep within his thoughts. Ruki turned his head and locked eyes with Kai. The minute the man’s dark eyes rested on him, Kai felt overwhelming affection flood into him. 

“You okay?” Kai spoke trying to distract himself from the warmth growing more and more on his face.

“Um...yeah. Just….Just give me a second.” 

With that Ruki got up leaving a confused Kai sitting alone on the couch. Ruki walked back towards his bedroom. Kai had a puzzled look painted on his face. The movie continued to play, no longer the focal point of the evening.

After a few moments, Ruki returned carrying a bundle of blue cloth messily held together by a shiny silver ribbon.

“I thought I had more time to put it together.” The tattoo artist shyly handed over the bundle into Kai’s arms. He then took his seat beside the dazed blonde. Kai’s mind was racing to try to comprehend what was going on. Once he was caught up on the situation, Kai blushed from ear to ear. 

“Th-Thank you.” Kai couldn't help but stutter a bit at the surprise of receiving a gift. And better yet, it was a gift from his Ruki.

“It’s nothing special.” The tattoo artist’s confidence was nonexistent at this point. His left leg bounced nervously while he played with the hem of his shirt. He was looking down as he fussed with the shirt fabric. The feel of soft lips on his cheek turned his gaze upwards towards the blushing blonde.

Untying the shiny ribbon, Kai let the blue cloth unfold itself on his lap. Inside the fabric was a packet of hair ties.

“I bought you those, since yours are always breaking.” A faint smile spread across the black haired man’s lips.

Kai’s eyes widened when he moved the hair ties and saw that the cloth was a t shirt with an intricate design painted on it. The artwork on the blue shirt was a beautiful silver design of three tiny stars over two ‘h’s pointing into two long spikes leading down the front of the shirt. Along the right sleeve in silver letters “Heresy” was written.

“This is beautiful!” Kai whispered. A giant dimpled grin permanently painted on his face.

“You don’t have to lie to make me happy.” Ruki spoke quietly, still lacking confidence.

“No! I mean it! I always love your art! It’s so expressive and passionate that I can’t help but smile like a damn idiot!”

Apart from the movie providing background noise, silence filled the space between the two men. 

“I’m glad you like it. I love you.” The last sentence came out of Ruki in a barely audible whisper. If Kai wasn’t so close, he wouldn’t have heard it.

“I love you, too.” Kai leaned in to kiss Ruki’s pale lips.

The blonde went to pull away, but a hand on his thigh froze him in place as Ruki’s pale lips returned. They exchanged kisses between each other, deepening each time. With each kiss, Kai slowly poked his tongue out; Ruki parted his lips to accept Kai’s muscle. Both men’s breath increased as their tongues danced together. Ruki slide his hand up and down Kai’s well toned thigh while his other hand found it’s way up to the bartender’s hair and entertwined with the blonde locks.

Returning the touch, Kai wrapped his hand around the tattoo artist’s waist.  He placed his other hand along Ruki’s slender neck. Ruki hummed approving moans as Kai slide his tongue out of his mouth and down along his jawline. The blonde proceeded to softly kiss the pale flesh of Ruki’s neck. After a few teases, Kai increased the intensity of the kiss and brushed his teeth along the unmarked skin. Ruki let out an airy gasp as Kai bit the vulnerable flesh. Once the blonde’s teeth let the skin loose, he lathered the fresh bite with his tongue.

Ruki’s hand left the man’s thigh and slowly crept under Kai’s shirt. The blonde replied with a pleased moan against Ruki’s neck. The air between the two began to feel warmer, and the ongoing movie was quieted by the moans escaping each other’s succulent lips.

Removing his lips, Kai shifted both of their bodies. With his hand on Ruki’s waist, he guided the man to lay down on the couch while Kai slid his body to hover over top of the tempting tattoo artist. The bartender smiled at the sight of the man looking up at him with hooded eyes.

“Before we continue, I wanted to show you my gift for you.” A soothing voice left Kai’s lips after planting a tender kiss on Ruki’s nose.

The heat of the moment instantly dissolved away as a pit of pain pooled at the bottom of Ruki’s stomach.

“What the hell is that?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliff hanger :O
> 
> Got this chapter done faster than anticipated lol Just one more chapter and we are done. *cheers*   
> Thanks again to every one who supported this pick by reading, commenting, and/or leave kudos! I appreciate every single one of you lovely people <3
> 
> And I wanna thank the people who have given me hints, tips, and love along the way! <3 <3


	10. Chapter 10

“Before we continue, I wanted to show you my gift for you.” Kai spoke as he peeled off his cardigan revealing his forearm.

“What the hell is that?”

Kai’s smooth pale arm was was no longer bare. Instead of the naked flawless skin that Ruki had come to love, ink tainted the blonde. On his forearm the words “Overcome all Difficulties” was printed in black olde english styled letters. The toned skin showed slight signs of redness around the design, reminding the tattoo artist that this was done recently. A proud smile displayed across Kai’s lips.

“I remember you telling me it was your first tattoo. So, I thought it was a good first tattoo for me. I wanted to surprise you.” Kai hovered over Ruki noticing the dark haired man’s silence. The man’s hooded eyes from earlier were wide open. The blush gracing his face had vanished being replaced by a pale complexion. Noticing the change in mood, Kai talked to fill the void.

“I was stumped as what to get you for a gift. I figured that getting a tattoo was a nice way of me showing you that I’m serious about being with you. And ever since I saw this design, I thought it was a great universal message. So I got Miyavi to-”

“Why?” Kai’s ramble was interrupted by a hoarse whisper. The monster movie still playing in the background nearly drowned out Ruki’s question. If Kai wasn’t so close to him, he would not have heard it.

The proud smile on the blondes face became downcast. The adorable dimple disappeared. Unsure of what to say, Kai looked down at Ruki with a quizzical expression. He saw the hurt starting to reveal itself on the dark haired man’s face, but failed to understand it. Instead of trying to fill the silence, the blonde opted to remain quiet.

Ruki laid on his back on the couch looking up at the once gorgeous man on top of him. The tattoo artist felt his heart ache increase at each passing second. The pain began to show itself on Ruki’s face. His dark eyes began to glisten with pain induced tears. Looking up at Kai, he asked his question again. 

“Why?” Instead of a whisper, Ruki’s voice was a low growl.

“I’m not sure I understand.” Kai attempted a lighthearted laugh, but it instantly died in his throat when he saw Ruki’s tears begin to overflow onto his pale face.

The tattoo artist closed his watery eyes and took a deep breath attempting to calm himself down enough to get answers.

“Why did you go to Miyavi?” The dark haired man spoke in a eerily calm and steady voice. The tears rolled out of his eyes and down the side of his face. 

When Ruki saw the blonde’s fresh tattoo painting his naked flesh, he was dumbstruck. He thought that reality was somehow altered. Perhaps he was still in Kai’s arms, asleep while they watched a movie together. But the weight of the infernal blonde on top of him was enough to assure him that this was real. The love of his life was corrupted by markings along his forearm. That hurt. But what hurt more was the mention of the man who did it. Miyavi.

Just when Ruki was finally starting to accept the fellow tattoo artist, he soiled what was precious to him. He thought he could trust Miyavi. The man had to put aside his artistic integrity to please his clients. Ruki could never do that so he felt bad for Miyavi. But, any shred of admiration he felt for that man was instantly scorched away as his name left Kai’s once soft lips.

“Why did you go to Miyavi?” Ruki asked again with a forceful tone unsatisfied with the silence that Kai produced.

Opening and closing his mouth a few times, Kai was at lost. His mind was still trying to catch up to the change of the mood. The steam from earlier evaporated leaving Kai lost in a cool air of forgotten passion. This was not the reaction he expected. He thought Ruki would be proud that he took the plunge into the abyss of getting a tattoo. Obviously, the dark haired man appreciated the ink markings. Why did he not admire them on him? Before he could ask his questions, he better answer the dark haired man’s.

“I wanted to surprise you. I didn’t know anyone else besides you and Miyavi who did tattoos. Plus, Miyavi helped me decide on what to get done.” A slight grin appeared on the blonde’s lips in attempt to lighten the mood. The everpresent tears stained on Ruki’s face was a reminder that the situation was never going to steer back to its former fluffy self.

“He designed that for you?”

Ruki’s voice was hard to decipher. There was no emotion behind it. Unsure of what to think, Kai answered honestly.

“Yes.” Kai did not attempt any lighthearted smiles. Instead his face harshed into a serious expression; the expression Ruki first saw worn on the man’s face a year ago. “I had little to no idea on what to get. Miyavi said he could come up with something. A few days later, this was what he designed.” 

Kai lifted his left arm up revealing the damned tattoo once again to the dark haired man underneath him. Ruki’s hands have fallen off of the blonde’s former irresistible form and laid limp on the tattoo artist’s stomach. 

“So he stole my design.” It was statement rather than a question. And it hung in the air. 

Unsure of how to respond, Kai lifted his hand towards Ruki’s cheek in an attempt at wiping away some of the tears staining the dark haired man’s beautiful face. The hand was quickly slapped away with much force from Ruki. Warmth appeared in the man’s face once again. Redness overcame his face once again, but it was from anger instead of affection.

“Why the fuck would you do that?” The tattoo artist’s voice rose in volume. He was greeted by a wide eyed man looking down at him in surprise. “Why the fuck would you go to him?! How could you go to him?!”

Ruki’s volume gradually rose. At the last question, the tattoo artist brought his hands up and pushed the blonde form off of him as he crawled out from under his former lover. Kai sat on the edge of the couch as Ruki stood up and glared at him. His hands hung at his side with his knuckles going white at the fists he was making. The tears continued to flow. The blonde looked at the beautiful ball of rage staring at him and felt water running down his face.

“Why?!” Ruki’s shout overshadowed the noise emitting from the movie playing on the television.

“I’m sorry! I thought you and him finally got along! I thought you’d be happy that I decided to get a tattoo like you! Like yours!” Kai choked on sobs in between his words.

“How could you do this?! Did you not know how special it is for me to do someone’s first tattoo?! I could’ve been your first! I could’ve done your first! I could have done your first tattoo instead of that hack!” The anger oozed out of Ruki and into his words cutting wound after wound into Kai’s aching heart.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t realize how much it meant to you! I really didn’t! I was stupid! Okay? You can do my next tattoo for me!” He tried to silence is choking sobs by talking in a rush. 

Kai’s last statement hung in the frigid air that formed between the two men’s heated conversation. The blonde looked at the the dark haired man with his unconditional love oozing from his eyes in the form of droplets cascading down his soft cheeks. Ruki’s eyes held no affection towards the sobbing figure on his couch. The tears stained on his face bleed from anger instead of adoration.

“There is no next time.” The previously heightened voice from before dropped back down to a bitter whisper. Ruki ripped his eyes off the once hypnotic blonde and turned his gaze towards the television. The movie that they were enjoying earlier had ended and the ending credits scrolled along the screen. 

“I’m done. Leave.” Numbness overtook Ruki. The drops ceased from coming out of his eyes. Nausea crept around the pit of his stomach. The anger remained but was overshadowed by apathy. Emotionlessness took over his face as the tears stopped. He felt everything and nothing.

“I’m sorry.” Kai spoke softly feeling defeated. The droplets from his eyes continued to flow mirroring Ruki’s from earlier. With the little bit of energy he had left, the blonde pried himself off of the comfortable couch. Standing up, he walked past Ruki who was avoiding eye contact and not giving Kai an ounce of his attention. The tattoo artist’s gaze was focused on the television displaying the credits. Silent sobs escaped the blonde as he stood by the door. Opening it, he stood in the doorway and turned before leaving.

“I love you.”

Finally looking up from the television, Ruki turned to observe the sobbing blonde in the doorway. His face held no expression. Any warmth that he once felt around Kai’s presence was obliterated by the coldness he now endured.

“I did.” Ruki responded flatly.

With that being said, Kai closed the door behind him. The movie ended and finished providing background noise for the scene which happened. Silence filled the heavy air. Slow, heavy footstep were heard leaving the building. The starting of a car accompanied the darkness outside. Seconds later the car merged into the nighttime leaving the lonely street.

Turning his gaze from the door, that tattoo artist walked over to the couch that once was supporting warm passion. All at once, the events of the night hit Ruki and he fell into the couch sobbing. His ugly cry echoed throughout the lonely apartment. 

Koron emerged from his hiding spot and laid at the floor around the couch hoping his presence could soothe his owner’s worries.

 

* * *

 

The rain cooled off the hot air of summer outside as Ruki worked in his studio. A few days has past since his departure from Kai. Everyone knew about it by now. None of them contacted Ruki about it except for Uruha. The morning after the breakup, the tattoo artist received a text from the spacey friend.

“Sorry.” 

They all avoided the touchy subject. Even Ruki. He had not left his studio or apartment to go meet with his friends. The dark haired man did not have the courage to face anyone. Especially Kai or Miyavi. The pain of the betrayal stung him like an uncontrollable rash. He occupied his mind with work in an attempt to forget about the suffocating feelings of hurt and loneliness.

It was early in the afternoon when the door to his studio opened revealing his client. A young girl stood in the waiting room with a big smile on her face. The familiar girl had on a short sleeve shirt revealing the tattoo on her forearm of a heart with a cross. A design that Ruki remembers doing. She pushed back some loose strands of hair as she waved to Ruki who was getting up from his drawing table.

“Am I too early?” She spoke with an easiness in her voice. The nervousness she displayed when she got her first tattoo was completely gone.

“No. You’re right on time.” The tattoo artist spoke as he motioned her towards the chair next to his equipment. He hid his emotional frailty behind a mask of professionalism. It was much easier to do when he had work to busy himself. “I made some designs based off of your original idea.”

“Oh, that sounds great.” The girl spoke cheerfully.

Showing her the designs, Ruki and the client discussed each one until the girl picked one that her and Ruki really liked. The dark haired man then prepared to do the tattoo. Pulling back his hair, he covered his face with a white mask. He cleaned the skin and transferred the stencil onto the girls upper arm. Once everything was prepared, Ruki began to ink the design.

While putting the ink into the young lady’s skin, her and Ruki made small talk. Ruki mainly just nodded not contributing much to the conversation.

“I went with my friend while she got her tattoo done. And she got it done at Miyavi’s.”

Ruki nearly stabbed the needle deeper than desired into the girl’s naked skin at the mention of the name. The suffocating feeling in his heart threatened to spill out off his eyes. The fight from a few days ago began to play on repeat in his mind. Ruki desperately tried to stop the rerun by focusing on his breathing, the tattoo in progress, the girl’s voice, anything. The girl seemed to be oblivious to the emotionally fragile man beside her. Instead she kept talking.

“While we were there, I didn’t like it. I just wanted to let you know that I liked the atmosphere of your studio better. You add more of a personal touch then him.” As she spoke, Ruki’s emotions calmed down at the compliment he just received. He was able to resume his calm professional demeanor.

“Thank you.” The dark haired man pulled down the mask he wore over his face to reveal a small appreciative smirk. Moving the mask back over his face, Ruki continued working on the tattoo.

The humming of the needle helped to numb Ruki’s mind and make him temporarily forgot about the pain that crept at his back of his heart. 

The noise also drowned out the ding that came from his phone laying on his desk a few feet away. The dinging from the phone lit up the screen simultaneously revealing the reason of the notification

  
_ 1 unread message from Kai _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END!
> 
> First off, please don't kill me lol  
>  I've had the ending planned since chapter one. When I pitched this plot to me sister, she kicked me in the stomach so I knew I had to write it lol But I originally had it planned that they the broke up and that's it. I changed it to leave it a little open ended once I saw how much people liked the ship. So you guys can decide what happened. Do they get back together or not? Personally, I leaned towards the unhappy option, but that's just how I am lol  
> But I just want to thank everyone who read this fic, commented, and/or left kudos. It was my first fic and I don't think it turned out bad. I hope you guys enjoyed the ride with me! <3 <3 <3


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